Dendera

Coordinates: 26°10′N 32°39′E / 26.167°N 32.65°E / 26.167; 32.65

Dendera
General view of the temple compound.
Dendera Location in Egypt
Coordinates: 26°10′N 32°39′E / 26.167°N 32.65°E / 26.167; 32.65
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Qena
Time zone	EST (UTC+2)

Dendera (Arabic: دندرة‎ Dandarah; also spelled Denderah, Tentyra^[1]) is a small town in Egypt situated on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south of Qena, on the opposite side of the river.

History

Entrance to the temple.

At a rather isolated place at the edge of the desert, about 2.5 km south-west of the modern town, lies what Dendera is famous for, a mostly Greco-Roman temple complex known in ancient Egyptian as Iunet or Tantere. The modern Arab town is built on the ancient site of Ta-ynt-netert, which means 'She of the Divine Pillar', or Tentyra, which is Greek for Dendera. It was once the capital of the 6th Nome (Pharaonic province) of Upper Egypt, and was also named Nikentori or Nitentori, which signifies willow wood or willow earth. Others derive the name from the sky and fertility goddess Hathor, also associated with the Greek Aphrodite, who was especially worshiped there. The crocodile, recognized as the deity of the city, was also venerated as such in other Egyptian cities, which gave rise to many quarrels, notably with Ombos. It is still the seat of a titular see, the suffragan of Ptolemais, in the former Roman province of Thebaid Secunda. Little is known of Christianity there, as only the names of two ancient bishops are given: Pachymius, companion of Melece at the beginning of the fourth century, and Serapion or Aprion, contemporary and friend of the monk St. Pachomius, who had in his diocese his celebrated convent of Tabennisi. The town became the Arab Denderah during the late Ottoman Empire and ruled 6000 inhabitants in Qena.

The temple

Main article: Dendera Temple complex

The Dendera Temple complex, which contains the Temple of Hathor, is one of the best preserved temples, if not the best, in all Egypt. The whole complex covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mud brick wall. The present building dates back to the times of the Ptolemaic dynasty and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius, but it rests on the foundations of earlier buildings dating back at least as far as Khufu (known as the pyramid builder Cheops, the second king of the 4th dynasty [c. 2613–c. 2494 BC]), in which was found the celebrated zodiac now in Paris There are also Roman and pharaonic Mammisi (birth houses), ruins of a Coptic church and a small chapel dedicated to Isis, dating to the Roman or the Ptolemaic epoch. The area around the temple has been extensively landscaped and now has a modern visitor centre, bazaar and small cafeteria.

Gallery

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See also

• Dendera light

Notes

1. ^ In old sources such as Belzoni.

References

"Tentyris". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14512b.htm.   This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Tentyris". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

External links

Media related to Dendera Temple at Wikimedia Commons