The temple is located about 4 km from the Nile River on its west bank, almost opposite the city of Qena, the capital of the province of Qena Governorate (population - 2,000,000), which is inhabited by two Copts and Muslims. This city is very famous for making pots of water, called "pots Gula" in Arabic.
Muslim sheik, Abdel El-Raheeem Kenawi, who spent his entire life in this city and died in 1170, founded the modern city. The anniversary of the saint is celebrated every year, and many pilgrims come from all parts of Egypt for the festivities. The name of the town dates back to the time of the pharaohs, and was taken from the ancient Egyptian word Qeny, meaning "bend"; Nile has a huge (and famous) elbow here.
The temple of Hathor was built in the first century BC and is one of the best preserved temples in all Egypt! Ptolemy VIII and Cleopatra II built and later Roman Emperors continued to decorate and honor the goddess Hathor; the goddess of motherhood, love and music. The Greeks identified Hathor as Aphrodite.
The first bridge was built by the Roman Emperor Domitian in 80 AD, leading to the main hall of the temple, which is decorated with Hathor columns (columns with Hathor face on them) and is in very good condition. The "top front edge of the cornice is decorated with the winged solar disk, while the screens between stone columns and the stage, representing the Roman Emperor Tiberius and other Roman leaders with votive offerings to the Goddess Temple, enclose the part front. Hathor is mainly represented with the horns of the sacred cow protruding from the head, supporting the solar disk of the sun, and his hands holding an "Ankh" symbol of life, and a scepter. sometimes it also represents with the head of a cow.
The interior walls of the great hall were remarkable scenes which are primarily of his sacrifice to the goddess of the temple. The amazing ceiling, with its astronomical representations, is very interesting! The roof is divided into seven divisions, and the best remaining 3 are: hathor
The first division in the east, which represents the goddess Nut, the sky goddess who leans toward the earth, with the sun's heat in the temple of Hathor and mask costs.
Moreover, and next to the first, is a representation of the gondola and the goddess of the sun star.
The third is the roof of the West, which is a perfect representation of the signs of the zodiac, which is one reason that the temple is so famous (original zodiac relief is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France) . The 12 digits of ram, bull, the heavenly twins, crab, lion, virgin, scales, scorpion, archer, goat, irrigation and pots with bright tails. In the interior walls of the screen, the Horus falcon-headed God, and Ibis-headed god Thoth, are pouring drops of holy water on the king. This stage is called the step of baptism, which symbolizes life and happiness.
The second bedroom has 6 columns with capitals and bases of rich granite. On both sides of this room are small rooms serving as shops, which are used to store the bribes came from the island of Crete, and the Fayum oasis of Kharga and fertile.
Then comes the main chapel, which has two altars; one for the sacred boat, and the other for sacrifices to the goddess Hathor. Relief beautifully carved temple walls depicting Ptolemy VIII and other rules whose names are left blank oval cartouches, dancing with offerings to the sacred barque of Horus Hathor and her husband. The representatives of the king, the chief priests and nobles, gathered in the Great Hall for the preparation of daily rituals. The roofs are covered with stars, and black soot from fires later inhabitants Temple.The rooms around the sanctuary were used for scientific purposes, the storage of sacred boat, the holy crown, the golden Hathor and musical instruments
There is a small hallway to the right, which leads to a small room containing the crypt, highly recommended if you visit here.
The stairs leading to the roof of the temple are decorated with beautiful symbols representing the 12 months of the year. In the eastern corner of the roof, is the chapel of the god Osiris. The scenes on the walls rise from the dead and become the god of the underworld, Osiris. It was in this chapel that was taken the best representation of the zodiac. zodiac
The relief spread outside the south wall of Cleopatra VII and her son by Caesarean section, JuliusCaesar son, making offerings to Hathor of Dendera allThe other deities. On the same wall, close to the ledge, are stone lion heads, using water jets. Along with construction of temples in the west is the sacred lake, which was used for washing the priests. Beside the lake is a small tree, discovered in 1917, which contained valuable treasures from the time of Cleopatra, now on display at the Egyptian Museum.
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