THE TEMPLES, SITES AND MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

The temple complex of Dendera is located 31 mi/50km north of Luxor on the right bank of the Nile. It was the prime sanctuary of the goddess Hathor.

The temple has a long history. There is evidence that Pepi I (Old Kingdom) rebuilt the temple while other texts refer to reconditioning by Thutmose III, Amenhotep III and Ramesses II and III (of the New Kingdom). Additions were made during the Greek, Roman and Ptolemy periods.

The approach path to the temple is between two Roman fountains that end at the massive entry gate.The enclosure walls are mud-brick and date to the Roman era. Within the walls are the temple, two birth houses, a Coptic Basilica, a sanitorium, a sacred lake, and a temple to Isis.

Temple of Hathor at Dendera, with the temple of Horus at Edfu, is one of the best-preserved of the Ptolemaic temples.

Late Ptolemaic-Roman period.
Hathor is a cow-headded goddes.

The same style temples are the Temple of Khnum in Esna (Ptolemaic-Roman period, 50km south from Luxor), the Temple of Horus in Edfu (Ptolemaic-Roman period, 50km south from Esna) and the Temple of Kom Ombo in Kom Ombo (Ptlemaic-Roman period, 60km south from Edfu).

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