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Dendera is sometimes
omitted from the packed itineraries of the tour operators. The temple is located about
60 kilometres north of Luxor, on the west bank of the river Nile, opposite
the small town of Qena. Dendara was known in ancient Egypt as Iunet or Tantere,
and known to the
Greeks as Tentyris, it was the capital of the 6th nome of Upper Egypt and
hence a town of some importance. Since antiquity, the population of the
town has moved across the Nile to Qena on the east bank. The ancient temple
now lies isolated on the edge of the desert. The main temple at Dendara is
the most elaborately decorated and best preserved temple of its period.
It has survived the years well despite the destruction of the temples of Hathor's consort Horus and their child Ihy, which at one time stood close
by. |
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The
temple of Hathor was constructed over a thirty four year period, between
54 and 20 B.C. In 51 B.C. after four years of building activity, Ptolemy XII died
leaving the temple unfinished. It is believed that the
remainder of the temple was build during the twenty one year reign of his
successor, Queen Cleopatra VII. At the time of her death in 30 B.C. the
decoration work on the outer rear wall, had just begun. |
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 At
the front of the main temple are several
Roman period kiosks. After these, is the monumental gateway of
Domitian and Trajan, which is set within a massive mud brick enclosure
wall that surrounds the
complex. The site lacks a colonnade
and the two pylons which would normally precede the inner temple. The
stone wall that surrounds the inner enclosure is unfinished, but
contains side entrances which open to a large hypostyle hall, which was added in the 1st century A.D. by
the Roman emperor Tiberius. |
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 On
the roof in the southwest corner of the temple, is a kiosk, with four
Hathor columns on each side. Sockets in its architraves suggest a barrel
shaped timber roof with a double hull and segmented pediment, it is
thought that it may have had windows in the roof to let in the sun's rays.
In the floor of the chapel there is a light well, allowing light to
reach the Horus chapel, located below on the main floor of the temple. |
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Located at the temple's
southwest corner, is what remains of a sacred lake which provided water
for the complex, with stairs descending in each corner, this stone lined
basin is the best preserved of its type in Egypt. Today, the water has
gone, and trees grow within its walls. On the rear outside wall of the
temple behind the sanctuary, can be found two waterspouts in the form of
lion heads which drained rainwater from the roof. Scenes can be found that
depict Cleopatra VII and Caesarion, her son by Julius Caesar. |
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Egypt and the Nile
Dendara
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