Has anyone out there visited The"Temple of Hathor", at Dendara, Egypt?

Question

I would love to read your comments.

Answer 1

Dendara is one of the most important temple sites in Egypt. It is a unique example of the rich variety of later period temple features.
The Temple of Hathor is located in an area that was then called Iunet or Tantere. An important provincial capitol through many eras of Egyptian history.There has been a temple at this spot since the times of the Old Kingdom.
New Kingdom monarchs,Thutmosis III,Amenophis III and Rameses II all made additions and improvements to temples that stood there.
This is what makes it such a significant historic site.
It is a Greco-Roman temple that remains today.This temple survived despite the destruction of the Temple of Horus and Ihy, which originally stood along side.
Hathors consort was Horus and their son Ihy,
Like most Egyptian temples it is oriented towards the Nile,but due to the rivers bend it faces a little more to the north, than the usual east-west orientation.
Unlike the earlier temples the facade is constructed as a low screen and exposes to the outer court the temples beautifully decorated ceiling.
Each of the 24 sistrum capitalised,four sided columns,depicts the face of Hathor, as the "cow-eared "Goddess.
It is sad that every face was vandalised in antiquity.
The ceiling of the hypostyle hall is magnificent and retains much if its original colour.
It depicts a complex and carefully aligined chart of the heavens.The depictions include zodiac signs that were introduced by the Romans. Also included are images of the Egyptian Goddess Nut.
It is Nut who swallows the sun disk each evening and gives birth to it again at dawn.
The great hall leads into a smaller 6 columned hall where a statue of the Goddess would have appeared from her sanctuary for rituals and processions. On either side are 3 other smaller chambers. These were used for various aspects of the daily rituals.
The inner sanctum was constructed under the rule of several Ptolemaic Kings. But their cartouches remained uninscribed which may be due to the turmoil of the times.
The immense smoke damage of the upper walls and roof, comes from the cooking fires of early Christians, who sheltered there, in the protection of the temple.
They were responsible for much of the careless and purposeful vandalism. An early cross remains crudly carved into on of the delicate wall reliefs.
It is the smaller chapels and crypts in the walls and underneath the temple, that hold much of what I find fascinating. Although there is far too much to go fully into here.
It was in some of the numerous crypts were the temple treasure was held.The most important object being the "ba" or statue of Hathor.
Each year, it was taken to the roof by the ascending staircase,each staircase has appropriatly facing depictions.This was carried out with much ritual to celebrate the New Year.It was done so the crowds of people who were gathered outside the temple would see the Goddess, and be assured the Goddess was still there to protect them.
The Goddess would remain on the roof in sight of the people overnight. Then and at dawn return to her sactum by the decending staircase,to her chapel.
It is in one of the chapels that the famed "zodiac" ceiling was to be found.What we see today is a replica.
The original was removed by Napolean and is now in the Louvre.
Another of the chapels deals with the death and resurrection by Isis of her husband Osiris. They were the parents of Horus,the consort of Hathor.
At the very rear of the temple behind the rear wall, is a wonderful depiction of Cleopatra VII and Julius Caeser and their child Caeserion.
In the centre of this wall is a false door with an image of Hathor.
The image has almost been removed by pilgrims over the many centuries by scraping a little away to take with them to ensure her protection.
The outer buildings such as the birth house,
dedicated to Isis, the sanatorium,the remains of the Christian basillica and the sacred lake were pilgrims would bath to purify themselves after their journey, all are worthy of equal mention.
But to see them,and be in their presence is even better.
When you visit this site, you are encompassing the sacred beliefs of the Egyptians over many dynasties and eras.You cannot help but know you are walking on sacred ground.
It is truley a wonderful and memorable experience,one that every visitor to Egypt should try and experience at least once..

Answer 2

This is my favourite temple i love this place and i have been to many temples. It is a Ptolemaic temple and although not the eldest it is complete. It is not built in the traditional way but is a large building with a roofed hypostyle hall.It is a little smoke damaged inside but i think the carvings are good. However the small sloping passage way to the roof is lovely. and when you get to the roof there is another slope which will take you right to the edge of the roof and you can sit at the top and look right across the desert which i love to do. But you need to bribe the guard as you are not supposed to be up right at the top. there is also an underground passage where a golden statuette was found.you can go dwon there too but you need to be a little agile.
there are two ways to get there. either by convoy on the road in a coach with the tour company or a hired taxi. this takes about an hour and a half.
the second is a day cruise on the small boat that leaves from the novotel. This is a day cruise with lunch on board and a small pool. i have to say i did not enjoy this very much but i was hung over and had a really bad stomach and the boat broke down for three hours and it was summer. but i love dendera and think it well worth a visit. hope you enjoy it.

Answer 3

Yes I have on about six occasions. although newer than some of the temples as it is so complete it is definitely worth the visit. You can go down into the cellars under the main floor and climb up to the roof for an absolutely wonderful view of the Nile Valley. It used to have a complete atrological chart on the ceiling of one of the rooms but sadly that was given away many many years ago and now resides in the Louvre I believe atlhough an authentic copy remains. If you are in the area independently, visit Abydos which is ancient and the temple built by Seti I. The famous 'king-list' is here.

Answer 4

I went to Dendera in November on the day cruise from the Iberotel (Novotel). The cruise left at 7am and did not get back to Luxor until around 8pm so it's a very long day but well worth it. The temple is beautiful and although inside it has been smoke damaged from the years of campfires inside, you can still clearly see the amazing cealing which has each of the signs of the zodiac. Some parts of the temple are only accessible by those with good mobility as to get to the lower chamber you literally have to crawl through a tunnel (and loose all dignity whilst doing so).

A not so great thing about the temple which is otherwise breathtaking is the presence of the so called guides who try to pick you off the back of your tour group to tell you in broken english something about a particular carving and then won't leave you alone again until you tip them. They also follow you round telling you to "watch your step" and "mind your head" and require tips for this unwanted advice also. The worst part is that some of them stand at the ticket booth and require a tip as you are leaving for doing absolutely nothing but if you dont tip they can become quite disgruntled. However, whilst this is extremely annoying it did not spoil the overall trip as the temple is so magnificant.

If you are going to book the day cruise, do not book through a tour operator or through the Iberotel themselves. Go to Jollys under the winter palace hotel as he is much cheeper. We were staying at the Iberotel who run the cruise but when we asked at reception we were told it was 120 Egyptian pound each (£12), instead we went to Jollys and he sent a boy to the Iberotel reception to buy the tickets for 90 Egyptian Pound (£9).

In all I would definately recommend going to Dendera and for me it was one of my favourite things about my holiday. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

Yes and it's very good to visit ... you should go yourself.