Dendera Temple complex, English spelling was Tentyra; also spelled Denderah.
It is one of the best-preserved temple complexes of ancient Egypt. The area was used as the sixth nome of Upper Egypt, south of Abydos.
The most important religious centers in ancient Egypt. It is situated on the west bank of the Nile, south of Qena in Egypt. The present complex dates from the late Ptolemaic and Roman periods. This explains the prevalence of a magnificently scenic style, less severe than that of the oldest Egyptian temples, clearly evident in this lithograph, which shows the interior of the first hypostyle room, a magnificent chamber over 80 feet deep, featuring 18 huge columns covered with bas-reliefs. The dominant building in the complex is the
Temple of Hathor.
The existing structure began construction in the late Ptolemaic period at the time of Ptolemy Auletes in July 54 BCE. and the hypostyle hall was built in the Roman period under Tiberius.
In Egypt, Trajan was quite active in constructing buildings and decorating them. He appears, together with Domitian, in offering scenes on the propylon of the Temple of Hathor. His cartouche also appears in the column shafts of the Temple of Khnum at Esna.
Layout elements of the temple are:
The sculptured Dendera zodiac (or Denderah zodiac) is a widely known relief found in a late Greco-Roman temple, containing images of Taurus (the bull) and the Libra (the balance). A sketch was made of it during the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt.
The Supreme Council of Antiquities began the project of restoration and maintenance of the temple in 2005, stopped in 2011.