White Chapel, Ancient religious structure in Karnak, Egypt

The White Chapel of Senusret I is a limestone kiosk in the Karnak Open Air Museum, standing on a podium 1.2 m high, 6.8 m long and 6.5 m wide. Its four inner pillars, 2.6 m tall and 60 cm square, are surrounded by a peristyle of twelve pillars; the columns carry high-quality reliefs of Senusret crowned and embraced by Amun, Horus, Min and Ptah. A projecting cornice with alternating bands tops the flat roof, and a sloped ramp of the same stone rises to the base.

Senusret I of the Middle Kingdom built the chapel for his sed festival, with the king seated on a double throne between four central pillars. Under Amenemhat III or IV it was converted into a barque resting place, probably when the pink granite altar was installed. Amenhotep III later dismantled it and reused the blocks in the foundations of the Third Pylon at Karnak.

The chapel's decoration represents the sed festival of Senusret I, with the king shown crowned and embraced by Amun, Horus, Min and Ptah. Traces of yellow paint remain on the cornice, and red, blue and white on the hieroglyphs. Holes in the floor between the four central pillars held poles for a curtain that screened the king during the ceremonies.

The chapel now stands in the Karnak Open Air Museum, north of the main Amun-Re precinct, not in its original position. Its blocks were reassembled between 1927 and 1930 after removal from the Third Pylon. Look for the pink granite altar installed when the kiosk was converted into a barque resting place under Amenemhat III or IV.

The nome reliefs run along the base of the outer walls, not on the columns: Upper Egypt's provinces on the western side, Lower Egypt's on the eastern side. The columns instead show Senusret I crowned and embraced by Amun, Horus, Min and Ptah. Traces of yellow paint remain on the cornice, with red, blue and white on the hieroglyphs.