Egypt was ruled for 300 years by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty. For the Land of the Two Kingdoms, foreign domination was not a new phenomenon. The secret to rule is on display at the Temple of Dendara lying a few miles to the west of the Nile riverside town of Qena. Letting locals keep running things for a large part – as long as taxes were sent to Alexandria – the Ptolemies also co-opted the indigenous gods, goddesses and myths with their own. By trying to impose a foreign culture upon Egypt, internal disorder was kept to a minimum. Dendara, Edfu and Philae (near Aswan) are all examples of Ptolemaic admiration for the local religious hierarchy.

DENDARA

At Dendara, there is evidence of earlier temples going back to the Sixth Dynasty – Pepi I and his son Merenre Nemtyemsaf I (~2250 BC) – with another temple from the Eighteen Dynasty (~1500 BC). The oldest surviving building today is the birth house – mammsi – of Nectanebo II, Egypt’s last native pharaoh 360-343 BC.

The complex sits a bit far off the main tourist roads. Tours do run up from Luxor possibly including a short visit to the Old Kingdom and other ruins further downstream at Abydos. But those tours make up a long day – ten hours for both stops or five hours for just Dendara. There were other tourists at the site when we visited. However, late in the afternoon, it was such a relief to see the temple here in light of the tremendous crowds we experienced in Luxor the day before.

PTOLEMAIC SOAP OPERA

But the temple here at Dendara – Tentyris in Greek – is all about the Ptolemies. Here at the birth site of the earlier pharaoh, Ptolemy XII (He was known as Auletes – the Flautist and later as Neos Dionysos – the new Dionysus) celebrated his return to power. He had been forced from power in 58 BC by members of his court in favor of his eldest daughter Berenike IV after Ptolemy lost the provinces of Kyrene and Cyprus., Rebounding a year later, he gained support in Rome from Pompey and others (Including a twenty-seven year old cavalry officer named Marcus Antonius) to win restoration in 55 BC. After killing his daughter and her supporters in Alexandria with the support of a Roman force supplemented with mercenaries from Germania and Gaul who remained to continue to support Ptolemy XII. As co-regent in 52 BC, he brought in his second daughter, Cleopatra VII.

ptolemy xii builds a temple

Ptolemy XII did keep Egypt as the last Hellenic dynasty standing after Macedonia and the Seleucid kingdoms had fallen at the feet of the ascendent Roman republic, but it was at the cost of losing the last two overseas provinces; bankrupting the country and keeping power dependent upon a mercenary force. With existential threats to continued Ptolemaic reign throughout his reigns, he turned to his pharaonic duties of strengthening bonds between the priests of Egypt and himself.

As the day on the life of the Ptolemies almost had run its course, the dynasty and native subjects of Egypt finally came together demonstrated concretely with an upsurge in temple construction and beautification. Temples at Philae, Apollonopolis (Edfu), and Ombos (Kom Ombos) all gained new additions. Then in 54 BC, work started on the new temple here at Tentyris. The vast new temple was to serve as the northern counterpart to the temple at Apollonopolis only completed a few years before.

pharaonic links

Linking to the last native pharaoh were an important factor as were blocks bearing the royal cartouches of more ancient eras of Egypt. Texts on the walls describe the original temple here dating back before the unification of Egypt, pre-First Dynasty. Other links with both Pepi I (Sixth Dynasty) and Thutmose III (the warrior Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty) demonstrated Ptolemaic sensitivity to Egypt’s past. The temple building mirrored that of Apollonopolis except with crypts extending over three levels. This seemed appropriate since there was a close association between Tantyris and Apollonopolis with the Festival of Ra on New Year’s Day. With Horus in Edfu and Hathor here, Ptolemy XII hoped some of the magic of divine mother and son – cosmic power and regal authority – would rub of on him.

Cleopatra VII

Time was not on Ptolemy XII’s side however, as he died in 51 BC, leaving Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII (Theos Philopator – who was only 10 years old). She sidelined her brother and proceeded to rule by herself for eighteenth months. Here at Dendara, she continued the work her father began with the roof chapels completed in 53 BC.

Before that could happen, Ptolemy’s regent, Pothinus, wanting to make Ptolemy XIII sole ruler (Soap operas of this kind make up much of the history of Ptolemaic Egypt) managed to chase Cleopatra off to Syria. Next act in the beginning of the end of the Ptolemaic opera, Pompey shows up after being defeated by Julius Caesar. The acting pharaoh – Ptolemy XIII – had Pompey murdered in the hope of pleasing Caesar which it did not. Caesar then met up with Cleopatra. She was able to ally herself, eventually having his son, Ptolemy XV Caesarion (Little Caesar). Cleopatra was back in Dendara in time for the dedication of the roof chapels on 28 December 47 BC, an auspicious date with the full moon appearing at its zenith, an act occurring only once every 1,480 years.

Of course, the final act would come about a few years later with her and her new consort, Mark Anthony committing suicide after losing out the final acts of the Roman Civil War to Octavius. Octavius then completed the act by having her son executed at the age of 17 in 30 BC.

THE GODDESS

The main aspect of the complex consists of a large structure devoted to the worship of Hathor. Hathor is the goddess of love, dancing, music, beauty, motherhood and drinking – one title for her, Lady of Drunkenness. Her face stands atop the many columns supporting the temple roof. She comes in various guises. Atop the columns, Hathor appears with a woman’s face, sprouting cow’s ears. She can also appear as a woman with cow horns which curve around a sun disc; or an angry lioness. As a cow, Hathor demonstrates a nursing and caring side. As a uraeus cobra, she protects the sun god Ra.

Hathor maintains a close association with Horus. Here, Hathor and Horus made up a divine triad with Harsomtus. A child-god, Harsomptus became much more popular during the Graeco-Roman era along with other child-gods. Hathor also gave birth to Ihy, a god of music. She was a daughter of the sun god Ra, though here she is praised as the sun itself, mistress of all solar deities. As the right eye of Ra, she shines light and brings life while as the left eye of Ra, she is the moon.

first-born privileges

As one of the first-born divinities – daughter of Ra and Atenet (female form of the sun disc) but also daughter of Nun (God of primeval waters) and Irta (a snake god who helped create the earth), Hathor inherited all of the powers of her parental deities. She can create land and all which grows on. Her regenerative milk allowed her to influence the annual flood. She was the best known of Egypt’s goddesses outside of the country until Isis replaced her in the pantheon during the 1st Millenium BC. As goddess of minerals, she had other titles such as the Lary of Turquoise.

Good and Bad

She had a severe side to her, as well. As one of the goddesses – Sekhmet – acting as the Eye of Ra, she demonstrated a vengeful, bloodthirsty side allowing her to protect Ra from enemies. As Ra became old ruling as king on earth, humans began to suspect the beneficence of the gods. With Ra aging, they saw a chance to plot against his rule. Realizing what was about, Ra held a meeting of the gods where it was agreed to send the Eye of Ra in the form of Hathor to slay humankind.

She went out and started to do as she was told when Ra had second thoughts. If all men were killed, who would he rule? Ra then asked her to abandon her killing mission, but through a taste for blood now acquired, Hathor transformed into the more dangerous goddess Sekhmet flying away from Ra’s palace to continue her massacre the next day.

In order to save mankind, Ra ordered red ochre to be brought up from Elephantine Island to be mixed up with vast amounts of beer. As Hathor-Sekhmet slept in fields, Ra had the fields filled with red beer. As she woke the next morning, she found herself in fields of blood the next morning. Happily slurping up her pleasant surprise, she became drunk and lost all interest in killing of humanity. Ra decreed that beer play a major role in all festivals held for Hathor from that moment on.

Hathor’s Festivals

The Festival of Ra on New Year’s Day saw priests carry out Hathor’s statue to the temple roof at the eighth hour of the day. When the sun’s rays hit the statue, she was believed to join with her father Ra and be rejuvenated.

Another big festival occurred during the Festival of the Beautiful Meeting. Here, Hathor went from Dendara to visit her husband Horus in Edfu. The journey took fourteen days moving along the Nile 180 kilometers upstream. Along the way, she took time to visit Mut (wife of Amun-Ra) at Thebes (Luxor) and other gods and sacred sites along the way. People watched the divine fleet from the riverbanks along the way.

At Edfu (Behdet), The two deities would meet and make their war to the Temple of Horus where they became reunited in marriage. Over the next two weeks, Hathor and Horus would regenerate the nine divine souls of Edfu before Hathor would return downriver to Dendara.

HYPOSTYLES CREATE AN ENTRANCE TO REMEMBER

The temple lacks its entrance pylon so after coming in through a gate – Gate of Domitian and Trajan – dating to the Roman era, you enter directly into the large Hypostyle Hall. Six massive Hathor-headed columns with a low-screen front the temple. Entering, you find 18 more similar Hathor columns with the ceiling divided into seven bands of astronomical figures. The colors have been restored. Centuries of smoke soot covered the figures from when people lived inside long after the temple lost its significance.

On the east side of the ceiling, the story of Ra’s sunset death. Then, his passage through the underworld and his resurrection. This is with the help of Nut – goddess of the sky, stars, cosmos, mothers, astronomy and the universe. On the walls, Roman emperors make offerings to Hathor.

basic egyptian temple design

General temple appearances followed a similar pattern in ancient Egypt, with the exception of the reign of Akenaten and his newly created city of Akhet-Aten (better known today as Amarna). An open court or possibly a series of courts, brings one to a large columned hall moving back to smaller inner chambers within. Floors get higher and ceilings lower as you make your way deeper into the interior. The inner sanctuary contained a statue of the god within a confined dark space, symbolic of the darkness found in primordial times.

Walking back from the shrine, takes you out through a hall of columns shaped as gigantic marsh plants, papyrus and lotus, plus one or two more courts representing a newly created world. Pylons marking temple entrances showed smiting scenes guarding the sacred space of the temple from the chaos of the outside world. Thus, the temple exemplified through its process of creation and daily rituals the proper balance of the created world. Maat – order – was maintained with the help of the temple.

Temples required a large amount of resources – agricultural lands, fowl, cattle, as well as access to ships and expeditions aimed at procuring items necessary for the rituals such as incense and ostrich feathers. Possibly, normal people were allowed into the open courtyards in front, especially during time of festivals. They were not allowed into the temples, however, only priest and highly ranked royals. The work of temples geared at maintaining maat, also important with funerary and afterlife practices.

INSIDE THE REFUGE

Moving further inside past the façade of the original temple, we come to the Halls of Appearance. Here, six slightly smaller hypostyles stand where the statue of Hathor would first be brought out for her annual journey to Edfu. A whole series of rooms come off the side of a central hall which terminated where a central barque shrine used to hold the statue of Hathor. In the various rooms – eleven chapels – various divinities were dedicated.

Below are fourteen crypts – only one room is accessible – which used to hold the treasures of the temple and presumably used for the most secret of rituals. A staircase on the west side leads to the roof – priests ascending on the right and descending on the left. Only small light apertures allowed light in. Two small rooms sit atop the stairs. Isis and Nephthys mourn the death of Osiris who lies on his funeral bed awaiting his resurrection by way of magical ritual. Isis is also magically impregnated with the seed of her son Horus.

TO THE ROOF

Walking out to the roof, you pass a chapel with twelve Hathor-headed columns – Chapel of the Disc. This is where the statue of Hathor would be brought out on New Year’s morning. One the east side of the roof are another couple of rooms, one of which the original Dendara Zodiac was cleaved off the ceiling to travel to its current home in the Louvre in Paris. A plaster copy takes up its place.

Look carefully and pick out the Dendara Light. People have thought the image is of a lightbulb meaning electricity must have been known in ancient Egypt. No, the “coil” is actually a serpent slithering out of a lotus plant attached to a barge. It is symbolic of resurrection. The flower is held up by djed pillar which represents stability, the symbolic backbone of Osiris.

WANDERING OUTSIDE

A massive mudbrick wall survives encompassing the temple complex. A stone wall used to further enclose the temple on three sides through the Gate of Domitian. To the right of the temple front are two birth-houses – mammisi. The mammisi is where kings became gods. While women – especially pregnant women – worshipped at the mammisi, the “birth house” represented the birth house of the particular God or Goddess in question. A Roman mammisi was built in the time of Agustus with later reliefs of both Trajan and Hadrian. The exterior walls show the divine birth and childhood of Horus.

Closer to the main temple sits an earlier mammisi erected in the time of Nectanebo II – Thirtieth Dynasty – celebrating the birth of Nectanebo and Ihy, son of Horus and Hathor.

In between the two birth-houses is a Coptic church dating to the 4th-5th century. Mudbrick remains of a sanitorium stand next to the church. Beyond, in the southwestern corner of the temple precinct, is the dried up remains of the Sacred Lake.

CLEOPATRA AND BES

Walking around the main temple next to a small temple dedicated to Isis also dating the time of Augustus. Opposite this on the back walls of the main temple you find figures of Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion – her co-regent – presented to the gods. Lion-headed spouts drained water off the temple roof extrude from near the tops of the exterior walls.

A statue of the dwarf-god Bes greets you just inside the Gate of Domitian. Bes appears outside of birth houses. He is the God of childbirth. Fertility. Sexuality. Humor and War though mainly a protector of pregnant women and children. He could also ward off ghosts, dark magic because he was, himself, a demon.

Beyond the temple complex lies a large mortuary area where ongoing research delves into the past history of the house of the cow-eared maiden.

VISITING

The complex sits a bit far off the main tourist roads. Tours do run up from Luxor possibly including a short visit to the Old Kingdom and other ruins further downstream at Abydos, but those tours make up a long day – ten hours for both stops or five hours for just Dendara. There were other tourists at the site when we visited, but, late in the afternoon, it was such a relief to see the temple here in light of the tremendous crowds we experienced in Luxor the day before.

Costs for entrance into the temple complex were 300 Egyptian pounds. To take in the Panorama of the rooftop, you need another 200.

DOVE HOUSES

Just outside the entrance to the complex stand a couple of Egypt’s ubiquitous dovecotes, home to pigeons and doves raised for food and for their droppings. The droppings are invaluable in a land where dams have turned off the source of annual renewal of soil nutrients. The loss must be made up somehow and the droppings which far outdate the dams help some. The most famous of the dove houses are found in the Delta and Fayum, but here, at Dendara, you can see they are a national phenomena.