Dandar
Dandar (Dendera, Bleeding) it is situated on the west bank of the Nile, in front of the city of Kina, ok. 60 km north of Luxor. A Ptolemaic-Roman temple of the goddess Hathor has been preserved here. Contemplation of the bas-reliefs on the walls is conducive to reflection on the passing of time. In the epoch, when the pharaohs ceased to be the guarantors of order in the country, The Egyptians gave emperors from far away the features of their former rulers, hoping, that they would fulfill the task of defending the world against Chaos.
History
Dandar, ancient Aegean Tentore (To-int-netert, Lady of the Column), and the ancient Greek Tentyris, on the left bank of the Nile, it already existed in the times of Cheops (XXVI w. p.n.e.) the center of worship of the goddess Hathor and the capital of the Sixth Nome of Upper Egypt. In the Ptolemaic period (from 125 r. p.n.e.) erected here for the patroness of the city (equated by the Greeks with Aphrodite) a new temple. The work was initiated by Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, continued Ptolemy XII Auletes, who died in 51 r. p.n.e., and they were reissued under Cleopatra VII. After her death, St. 30 r. p.n.e. the robots froze again, Octavian Augustus made it, and Tiberius finished. On his journey east (1836-1837) Juliusz Słowacki was delighted with the beauty of the temple. A temple of Isis was also built in the district (the reign of Octavian Augustus), mammisi (times of Nero, ok. 60 r.) and the New Year's chapel. In the Coptic times (V w.) a church was built in the district.
Sightseeing
It's worth taking a flashlight with you, to illuminate too dark places.
A new wide pavement runs towards the temple, led like a Roman columnar street through a propylon (behind the north gate stood a Roman nymphaeum). It passes by the Roman mammisi, ruins of the Coptic basilica. After passing through the gate, the pre-temple courtyard opens (75 m in length), on the right, behind the wall, there is a mammisi Nektanebo and a sanatorium.
Temple of Hathor
In front of the Temple of Hathor lie decorated blocks and architectural fragments from various structures: m.in. beautiful Hathor heads and a relief depicting the dwarf Bes. The temple is one of the best-preserved monuments of antiquity. Originally the complex occupied 40 thousand. m2 and was surrounded by a wall of mud brick. The buildings come from the times of Ptolemy and Octavian Augustus and Tiberius.
The entire temple is surrounded by a wall (35 on 59 m i 12,5 m in height). After the construction of the first hypostyle hall under Tiberius, the building reached dimensions 26,03 on 43 m i 17,2 m in height. It is shaped like a pylon and slightly tapers upwards. It is decorated with six huge columns with hatoric heads, which support an eight-meter cornice with a winged solar disk. The curtain walls between the columns of the facade erected during Tiberius are covered with reliefs with Roman emperors. On the right, Tiberius stands as a sphinx in front of Hathor and Horus [a], and on the left you can see Tiberius and Claudius in front of Horus, Hathor i i synem Ihy [b].
The hypostylowa
Supports the ceiling of the hypostyle hall 18 column, each crowned with a capital with the four heads of Hathor. When your eyesight gets used to the dark, you can see the famous Astronomical Ceiling, which has kept the original colors.
On the seven ribbons, the reliefs can be traced, how the Egyptians imagined the sky and the heavenly bodies. It is not a map, astronomy has become accustomed to today, but symbolic, magical representation of the firmament.
The first row on the right begins with an image of Eye Re riding a solar barge [c].
Above is placed 14 the days of the growing moon, then full, to come after 14 days to new moon, and each stage has its divine guardian.
Planets and stars are shown in the following registers 12 hours of the night [d] and the Roman zodiac signs.
In the last row you can see Nut, the sky goddess [e], who gives birth to the sun at dawn, and swallows them at dusk.
Beside, the Sun is born as the divine scarab of Chepry [f]. On the other side of the nave you can see a solar barge [g] with god Re, adored by the Souls of Pe and Dep (jackals and falcons). Then there are the signs of the zodiac again [d] and the goddess Nut [e].
This time the setting sun illuminates the goddess Hathor [h].
Hall of Appearances
The back wall of the first hypostyle is the facade of the original one, Ptolemaic temple. Behind her is the second, smaller and lower hypostyle hall, called the Hall of Appearances. Here, the statue of the goddess appeared before the annual pilgrimage to the Temple of Horus in Edfu. Despite the artificial lighting, the reliefs are barely visible on the walls (flashlight needed) with the king during the foundation and construction of the temple [i]. On the other side, the ruler makes gifts [j ]. There is a treasury on the right [k], followed by the so-called. Sala Nilu tu, from where the door led outside to the sacred well of water for purification.
In the next room [m] the entrance to the staircase to the roof of the temple was provided. There was a studio on the other side of the hypostyle [n], where holy oils and perfumes were prepared. The next room was used as a store for costumes [nl], further on [O] there was a room with a list of holidays in the sanctuary (on the inside of the door frame).