At Dendera I would experience a new chapter within Egyptian civilization, and walk through a temple that had been re-created in the era of the Greek Ptolemy’s and finally the Romans, I would walk in the same temple that probably the most famous of all queens, Cleopatra herself had walked in and made offerings to the Goddess Hathor the beautiful one, goddess of love, motherhood and female sexuality, the goddess of the cycles of life and fertility, a goddess whose priestesses were trained in the sacred tantric arts of adornment and lovemaking, one of the keys I think that would unlock Cleopatra’s mystical influence and charm.This was probably the temple that Cleopatra came to to give birth to her son Cesearian.
Through the centuries of time some people are just born to live a simple life, while others are born to be great, the great don’t just live inside the pages of history, they make it happen, and like a human cyclone or turbulent whirl wind they enflame their surroundings and light a burning torch of life becoming a light in the darkness and centuries of history. Even when their whirlwind dies, it doesn’t really matter because they truly lived life to the full for that one moment in time, and the cyclone they created is acknowledged for all time. Cleopatra V1 was one of these people, she came to the throne at the age of seventeen with her younger brother Ptolemy X11 and like Hatshepsut centuries before her she wanted to rule alone. Although of Greek origin Cleopatra learnt the Egyptian language and like a lioness she took Egypt as the cub to her breast and fearlessly protected her heritage. Cleopatra like Hatshepsut was a very determined woman, at 22 she was delivered at the feet of Julius Caesar wrapped in an oriental rug, she desperately needed his help to end the struggle for power between herself and her younger brother Ptolemy X11, with the arrival of Roman re-enforcements her brothers army was crushed in a sea battle at Alexandria and the young king was drowned. Cleopatra and Julius Caesar became lovers and she bore him a son Caesarion, she now had ultimate power of Egypt, and with the protection of Julius Caesar, who was Rome in the eyes of Cleopatra, sadly her misconception of Roman culture, and their dislike of her usurping Caesar’s roman wife would eventually lead to her downfall.
Of all the temples in Egypt Dendera Temple would have been the most important temple for Cleopatra, as a mother she would have come to Dendera to ask the Goddess Hathor for her love help and protection, during the pregnancy and birth of her son Caesarion. In all of Egypt this is the only temple that shows a relief of Cleopatra with her son Caesarion, and they are shown in union with the goddess Hathor and her son Ihy.
As the lotus boat continued downstream towards Dendera, relaxing on the sun lounger my thoughts became distracted, a group of teenage boys dived into the river and swam towards the boat, whilst along the embankment a happy bunch of younger children ran and jumped chasing the boat they all waved and shouted hello to us, the enthusiasm of the Egyptian people to greet travelling strangers seems boundless, I have never experienced this enthusiasm in other countries and I have therefore found myself a willing captive of their affection.
Eventually the Lotus Boat arrived at the landing dock where an elegant papyrus columned veranda stretched across the waters edge, leaving the boat we joined our waiting coaches for a short escorted journey to arrive at the temple of Dendera, the earthly home of Het Heru, Hathor the Goddess of love healing and joy, Who had been adored by Egyptians and then embraced by the Greeks and Romans who completely rebuilt her temple over the original remains leaving us with the Greco-Roman temple we see today. Sadly the later roman era also saw the beginnings of the early Christians and Coptic faith who then destroyed the faces of Hathor trying to eradicate her magic and power, and many centuries later, a small Arab community built mud hut houses on the temple roof and made homes within her divine chambers bringing there donkeys chickens and cooking fires within.
Walking beneath the main doorway of the temple, I enter what feels like a wide pathway that runs like a river surrounded by trees(the columns)the path/river flows directly to the main entrance of the temple. The first impression of Dendera temple is quite solemn, what we can see of the temple today was created during the Greek era and added to during the Roman rule of Egypt. Although the famous Egyptian pharaoh Khufu the great pyramid builder himself had originally built on this site. The temple dominates the area whilst the mud brick walls surrounding the temple are all in disarray and broken. To the left of the temple are the remains of a Coptic church and Mammsi houses, some broken and some still in good order and a small sacred lake that now reminds me more of a drinking well for camels in an oasis at the desert. The temple is why I am here, and it is not disappointing, although not what I expected, The front of the temple is divided by half panels, these are supported by six sturdy columns each bearing the serenely beautiful head of Hathor with her unusual cow ears, a nurturing mother goddess, above her head rests a Naos box with tiny representations, looking up at the two columns each side of the entrance within the Naos box there was a very small image of the Goddess Hathor who stands at the side of the door to her temple welcoming us into her earthly home, it was a nice feeling to be welcomed by Hathor herself and so I entered through the doorway into the great court of Heaven, where 18 hypostyle columns stretched across each side of the room leaving a wide path that flowed through the centre of the temple towards the inner halls and sanctuary and a primeval mound of creation. From the top of each column inside the gloomy hypostyle hall the face of a rather sad and compassionate Goddess Hathor gazed down on us mere mortals, probably influencing my Initial feelings, as I felt a wave of sadness wash over me, subdued, I tried to find a face on the top of the columns that had not been damaged, the walls and ceiling of this Hall were black with the damage from the fires as they no longer understood or respected the ancient Egyptian gods and a temple seemed as good a place to them to convert into a home. The gloom added to the sombreness of my mood, but I wandered through the columns staring up at the ceiling, and eventually to my joyous relief I noticed a few small pieces of the original sacred colours of turquoise and gold that had defiantly fought their way through the blackened mists of the smoke damage. If only these walls could be somehow cleaned and there original glory refurbished I’m sure this wave of sadness would pass and joy would erupt again from the soul of Hathor. Walking towards the corner of the room I recognized the outstretched arms of Nut the goddess of the sky, her name is pronounced Noot and means night, her elegant arms and legs were the pillars to the earth, her face was so beautiful and serene as she swallows the evening sun. Her slim elongated body snugly wraps itself around the corner of the room and her long back extends across this length of ceiling creating her nightly shroud of Heaven, I followed her around as her elegant legs curved around the next corner of the hall as she gave birth to the sun in the morning, and each new day the first rays of light shine down onto the face of 'The Golden One’ the Goddess Hathor that had been deeply cut into the ceiling. I think the face of Hathor must be carved in gold because it still shines today. During the daylight Nut and her husband Geb are separated but once the light of the day diminishes she gradually draws down to lie on the body of her husband Geb and the earth succumbs to darkness. Nut was the barrier that separated the forces of chaos from the ordered cosmos of the ancient world. Gazing up at the ceiling, a row of Heavenly barque sailed across the night sky beneath the starlit, body of Nut. On a tiny barque directly beneath the sun and the first ray of light a barque carries an open lotus flower that appears to have a snake rising from it; this is a representation of Ihy, the son of Hathor and Horus, as he appears for the first time out of the primordial sea. He was the beautiful child of brilliant light, the offspring who lights humanity with the rays of the sun and floods the land with gold. On a slightly larger barque in front of Ihy sit his mother Hathor and the goddess Isis, the procession of barque carry all the gods of the sky, surrounding them and above their heads are golden stars which represent the homes of departed souls.
`I am a soul, I am a star of gold, Here I am, O Ra, I am your son, I am a soul, a star of Gold.’ *
One of my earliest childhood memories that often haunt me was the death of my great grandfather; I distinctly remember the pain of searching for him even though I was such a small child. I looked everywhere for him, eventually my search always ended under the kitchen table and I would silently sit on the cross bars beneath a deep brown velvet curtain that trailed from above the dining room table with its huge bulbous carved corner legs where I would silently brood. Eventually my grandmothers told me that my grandfather had gone to heaven, and if I looked up at the sky at night I would see him because he was a star now and he would shine down on me and guide me through my life. Many Years later I stood in the hypostyle hall at Dendera beneath the heavens, and I smiled and felt good, and remembered my great grandfather again and the love that he had endowed upon me. Isn’t it strange how small pieces of ancient history from the far corners of the earth filter down through the centuries of time and little sayings that we hear today can still relate to the beliefs of ancient civilizations?
Arriving at the Inner door the gradient of the floor subtly increases and I passed through into another small hypostyle hall that was even gloomier and contained six columns and had three chambers on each side. The temple was getting gloomier the deeper I went inside and the floor continued to gradually rise and led me through another door into a small hallway, in the corner of this hallway I was drawn towards a shaft of light that detailed a staircase on my right, I walked up the steps that were no longer level, over the centuries so many feet had climbed these stairs that the centre surface sunk and seemed to sway to the sides, creating before me a stone vision of individual waves rolling on the crest of the sea, so I walked up the staircase carefully and once I arrived at the top a sudden turn was made, I proceeded to follow this new flight of giddy steps, and in the gloomy light I had a strange feeling that I wasn’t alone , a square shaft of light enhanced the wall and I then saw at the side of me on each step continuing up the stairs in raised relief was a priest, so I stopped in wonder for a few minutes to look at the procession of priests as they continued up the stairs, the lighting was so subdued I could not safely continue to walk up the steps and look at the same time, gently I touched the relief as would a blind man to hold a vision in my mind, the higher I climbed the more I experienced feelings of elation, the relief’s portrayed the New Year celebration and some of the priests wore strange masks and carried offerings and the shrine of Hathor up the staircase towards the roof to await a very special dawn, as the procession walked up this staircase the priests would have chanted prayers for Hathor. Coming out into the brightness of the daylight I adjusted my eyes and then I walked over to the small chapel in the corner, this was where the priests placed the shrine of Hathor in the final hours before the dawn to wait for the star Sothis that would rise once a year with the dawn, on one of the most important days of the Ancient Egyptian Calendar. For seventy days Sirius, one of the brightest stars would not have been seen, it was the symbol of the goddess Isis in the heavens, on the first dawn after the seventieth day she rises again with the sun and remains visible for just a few moments, this special moment marks the beginning of the Ancient Egyptian New year, and it also marked the beginning of the annual flood of the River Nile. At the end of this day the goddess Hathor like the setting sun was then taken across the roof to the opposite staircase and delivered safely back to her sanctuary within the temple. Walking across the roof diagonally to the opposite corner I entered into the small chapel dedicated to the god Osiris, within the middle room the famous circular zodiac ceiling is portrayed, the Romans had incorporated their own beliefs with the Egyptians to create this amazing ceiling, which is one of the earliest representations of the zodiac ever to be found, the original is no longer at Dendera it was blasted off the ceiling after Napoleons expedition had brought it to the attention of the world, In 1821 an antiquities collector employed a French engineer who came to remove and collect the zodiac ceiling, it arrived in Paris in 1822 and was put on show until King Louis XV111 bought it for 150.000 francs, a plaster cast impression of the original is all that is now left at Dendera, the original is now on show in the Louvre Museum. There is a circle of the heavens that is supported by four feminine figures standing erect at the four corners of the cardinal points of the earth, within the heavens we can see the zodiac representations that almost appear to swirl around as the earth revolves.
Leaving the roof I walked towards the western staircase and as a shaft of light captured the relief’s of the priests I joined them on their journey back down the steps leading down into the Inner sanctuary of the Temple again to return the goddess Hathor who was now bursting with new life and health having spent New Years Day on the roof soaking up the rays of the Sun to rejuvenate her Ka, and the vibrations of the Nile would evoke the inundation of Egypt. The temple was filled with music from the sistra rattle whose bells on each of the four bars of the sistrum were tuned to the specific vibration of one of the four elements of nature, playing the sistrum the beautiful priestesses symbolized Hathor’s generative powers and her ability to keep the world in harmony and balance and ward off all evil influences.
Arriving downstairs I wandered through the small sanctuaries, some of which have crypts, and I was encouraged to go into one, but I am afraid my fear of going down the steps to be swallowed into the gloomy confines of a small dark crypt was scarily overwhelming, so cowardly I decided to avoid them, several crypts are known to be hidden beneath the floors and within the side walls of the temple, sadly I cannot overcome my fear of entering them, so I wandered thought the sanctuaries where I found a room that represents the Seven Hathor’s, three tambourines and four carry sistra, it was said that when a child was born the seven Hathor’s arrived at the birth and proclaimed the fate of the child.
I decided to look around the exterior of the temple and as I emerged into the light I shaded my eyes from a dazzling sun and a turquoise sky, walking around the outside of the temple I was disappointed to find many of the relief’s have been vandalized, where faces and bodies have been hacked and chipped away on the relief’s of the lower sections, occasionally a lions head leaps out from the edge of the roof which somehow seems odd on an Egyptian temple, but then I reminded myself that this temple has the Greek and then Roman influence. Turning the corner of the back wall I had arrived at the only relief of the most famous Queen of all, Cleopatra, I looked up to see her with her son Caesarion, I had created such a vivid impression in my mind of a beautiful woman, an untouchable warrior almost, and to be honest I was disappointed when I saw her relief, compared to many of the stunning relief’s in the temples of both the East and West bank of Luxor it did not befit the image I had created in my mind or recreate an inspiring relief of one of the most famous women in the world, Disappointed I followed the wall along to the far corner where The Goddess Hathor with her son Ihy faced Cleopatra, going around the corner I followed the side wall where my enthusiasm increased as the relief’s were untouched, beautiful and unspoilt once more, and they portrayed the harvest festival, where the beautiful goddess Sekhet, the goddess of the fields brings the produce of the land to the temple, she walked through the fields of wheat Papyrus and lotus, small geese fly from the ground whilst she follows a calf, her breath has the scent of flowers and she is adorned with Lotus blossoms, and in her arms she carries Lotus geese fruits and wine. All temples survived on the produce of the land, and the produce of the harvest Festival at Dendera proceeded the most spectacular festival that was known as the Festival of The Beautiful embrace where once a year after the harvest, the Goddess Hathor’s barque was loaded with the produce of the fields in preparation for the visit she made to see her Husband the God Horus at his earthly home the Temple Of Edfu. In splendid celebration Hathor was carried from her sanctuary within Dendera and greeted by all important dignitaries and priests, the locals were allowed to join this celebration, then gently her splendid barque that was known as ‘Great of Love’ carried her upstream where she was joined by a flotilla of barques until she arrived at Karnack Temple, where she would stay for a few days to visit the Goddess Mut, the wife of Amun Ra, more barques joined her flotilla as she left Karnack to continue her journey, Her Husband Horus would leave his temple and head downstream to greet her and in glorious celebration he would escort his wife to his home of Edfu Temple to begin fourteen days of joyous celebration where their sacred marriage was enacted once more and their son Ihy was conceived. Each day throughout the waxing moon the same set of ceremonies were carefully performed. It was felt that on the evening of the fourth day Ihy, the son of Horus and Hathor, was conceived. Then on the day of the full moon Hathor bid Horus farewell and began her return journey to her own temple once more.
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