Dendera Temple Complex – Hathor Temple

Dendera Temple Complex or Hathor Temple, the magnificent temple, is the best-preserved temple in Egypt. It lies on the west bank of the Nile River in Qena city, north of Luxor.

The history of Dendera Temple Dendera city houses a necropolis containing mastabas dating back to the Early Dynastic Period.

The remains of Dendera Temple dates back to the first dynasty, but the current one is back to the Greco-Roman period during the era of the Ptolemy Auletes.

This temple was dedicated to worshipping the goddess Hathour, the goddess of love, music, and maternity.

Let’s have a tour in Dendera Temple It was established on 40,000 square meters. You will enter from the gateway established during the Roman Emperor Domitian. Then you will move to the great hall decorated with columns holding the face of goddess Hathour. Finally, you will see the Holy of Holies, where the triad (the god Horus, the goddess Hathour, and their son Ihy), and astonished with its magnificent ceiling, decorated with stars.

Dendera Temple - Egypt Vacation Tours
Dendera Temple 

Here, you will find stairs leading to the roof, where several festivals occurred as the celebration of the New Year.

In Hathor Temple, you will be fascinated with its well-preserved inscriptions.

Dendera Temple Inscriptions - Egypt Vacation Tours
Dendera Temple Inscriptions

Also, it is famous with the zodiac of Dendera. It includes the twelve figures as the ram, the bull, the heavenly twins, the crab, the lion, the virgin, the scales, the scorpion, the archer, the goat, the watering pots, and fishes with glittering tails. A sketch was made of it during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt. In 1820 it was removed from the temple ceiling by French colonizers and replaced with a fake. The real one is now in the Louvre.

Dendera Zodiac- Egypt Vacation Tours
Dendera Zodiac

Additionally, the relief of the light Dendera. It is one of the ancient Egyptian secrets. Do you believe that the ancient Egyptians knew the lightbulb?

Dendera light - Egypt Vacation Tours
Dendera light