Dendera temple
Dendera temple
Dendera temple
It is located 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) southeast of Dandara, Egypt. It is one of the best preserved temple complexes in Egypt.
The area was used as the sixth area of Upper Egypt, south of Abidos.
Dandara was a site for mausoleums or shrines from the beginning of ancient Egypt.
The large building in the complex is the main temple, the temple of Hathor.
The temple was modified on the same site starting from the Central Kingdom,
is a Greek Roman temple built on the ruins of one ancient Egyptian.
It lasted until the time of the Roman emperor. Where the current structure was built in the late Ptolemaic period.
The temple, dedicated to Hathor, is one of the best preserved temples throughout Egypt.
The ceiling is still adorned with the Egyptian zodiac signs, the mythical creatures of life.
The only temple you can reach the top of the ceiling and down below the earth to its caches.
It is dedicated to the goddess Hathor, the goddess of love, play, dance and music in ancient Egypt.
Shapes of Goddess Hathor:
Hathor has three shapes:
- A complete cow
- A lady with two ears of cow
- A lady with two horns between them the sun disk
They picked the cow to be the emblem of goddess Hathor because the cow was a good animal never harm anyone
and this goddess was beloved by everyone that’s why they gave her this shape.
Description:
The design of this temple has been found to be in accordance to that of other classical Egyptian temples.
With the exception of the front of the hypostyle hall, which, according to an inscription above the entrance,
was constructed by the Emperor Tiberius.
The last band is decorated with the Egyptian zodiac,
showing all of our zodiacs we are using now a days and some extinct ones that we are no more using.
Hall of columns of Dendera temple are decorated with some traditional scenes of King Ptolemy offering
the offering to Hathor or her husband Horus the falcon headed god and showing the foundation of the temple.
The holly of the hollies lies at the end of the temple, surrounded by a corridor that has few store rooms and the crypts of the temple.
To the right before reaching the sanctuary, there are stairs lead up top to the roof of the temple,
where the ancient Egyptians celebrated the new year eve showing the unification between Hathor and Ra the sun god
and there are 2 chapels having few depictions of the Egyptian zodiacs inside a big circle that’s
why it’s ceiling is called the circular Egyptian zodiac ceiling referring to this.
The back wall of the temple is decorated with a huge scene shows Cleopatra VII who charmed Julius Caesar when he visited Egypt in 48 BC,
having herself delivered to him in a rug and doing a Nile cruise reaching Dendera temple.
So when they reached there they went off to pray and added these scenes which show Cleopatra VII, Julius Caesar and Caesarion.
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