5/5 Mohamed S. 1 year ago on Google
The
temple
complex
at
Dendera
is
quite
large,
boasting
a
basilica,
two
birth
houses,
a
sacred
lake,
and
numerous
other
temples
and
shrines
within
its
walls.
Structures
at
the
site
hail
from
an
assortment
of
different
ancient
Egyptian
eras,
with
monuments
from
the
Middle
Kingdom,
the
Ptolemaic
Era,
and
the
period
of
Roman
provincial
rule.
There
is
evidence
that
the
first
building
on
the
site
went
up
around
2250
BCE,
but
the
standing
structures
mostly
date
from
the
Ptolemaic
era
forward.
In
1995
BCE,
construction
likely
began
on
the
Mentuhotep
II
monument,
the
oldest
existing
structure
when
the
site
was
rediscovered.
The
Mentuhotep
monument
has
since
been
moved
to
Cairo.
The
oldest
structure
currently
there
is
from
Nectanebo
II,
built
ca.
345
BCE.
All
that
said,
it
may
be
more
accurate
to
say
the
structure
as
we
know
it
began
in
54
BCE,
when
construction
began
on
the
Temple
of
Hathor,
the
most
prominent
structure
at
the
Dendera
complex.
The
Temple
of
Hathor
is
one
of
the
most
well-preserved
antiquity
sites
in
Egypt
today,
and
is
an
excellent
example
of
traditional
Pharaonic
architecture.
The
Temple
of
Hathor
was
built
primarily
during
the
Ptolemaic
Dynasty,
which
was
a
period
of
Greek
rule
in
Egypt.
However,
construction
of
the
temple
was
completed
under
the
Roman
emperor
Trajan,
who
is
seen
depicted
on
the
walls
of
the
complex
making
offerings
to
Hathor.
The
temple
complex
also
includes
a
monumental
gateway,
constructed
by
Trajan
as
well
as
Domitian,
another
Roman
emperor.
This
site
was
a
center
of
the
cult
of
Hathor.
It
was
believed
that
during
a
period
known
as
the
Happy
Reunion,
Hathor
would
journey
from
her
temple
at
Dendera
to
spend
some
time
with
her
husband,
Horus,
at
his
temple
in
Edfu.
This
“reunion”
was
a
yearly
occurrence,
and
at
the
end
of
the
celebration,
the
return
of
Hathor
to
Dendera
was
thought
to
signal
the
official
beginning
of
the
flood
season
of
the
Nile.
The
temple
originally
housed
the
famous
Zodiac
of
Dendera.
This
bas-relief
with
human
and
animal
figures
represented
a
night
skyscape,
and
was
found
on
the
ceiling
of
a
chapel
in
the
Temple
of
Hathor,
where
the
mysteries
of
the
resurrection
of
the
god
Osiris
were
celebrated.
Egyptologists
determined
it
should
be
interpreted
as
a
map
of
the
sky
rather
than
a
giant
horoscope
or
a
perpetual
astrological
tool.
The
particular
configuration
of
the
planets
among
the
constellations
shown
in
the
Zodiac
of
Dendera
occurs
only
about
once
every
thousand
years.
Two
astrophysicists
have
dated
it
to
between
June
15
and
August
15,
50
BCE.
Two
eclipses
are
represented
on
the
Zodiac
exactly
where
they
occurred
at
that
time.
The
representations
of
the
signs
of
the
zodiac
as
we
know
them
today
did
not
appear
in
Egypt
until
the
Greco-Roman
Period.
This
monument
reflects
the
way
Egyptian
cultural
elements
merged
with
Babylonian
and
Greek
astronomical
and
astrological
theories,
as
a
result
of
the
Assyrian
and
Babylonian
deportations
of
the
eighth
and
sixth
centuries
BCE,
and
the
Persian
and
Greek
invasions
of
the
sixth
and
fourth
centuries
BCE.
The
Zodiac
of
Dendera
was
transported
to
France
in
1821,
with
the
permission
of
Mohamed
Ali
Pasha,
who
was
the
Turkish
viceroy
of
Egypt
at
the
time.
The
Egyptian
government
has
asked
for
its
return.
It
currently
is
on
display
at
the
Louvre
in
Paris.
