Dendera

Etymology

The original name of the town is , the etymology of which is unknown. It was later complemented by the name of the chief goddess Hathor and became Egyptian which is the source of or just tꜣ-ntrt "of the goddess", which is the source of . The modern Arabic name of the town comes from either its Greek or Coptic name.

There is also an aberrant Coptic form ⲛⲓⲕⲉⲛⲧⲱⲣⲓ, which could be either dissimilation of a regular name or a confusion with Koine Κένταυροι.

Temple complex

Main article: Dendera Temple complex

The Dendera Temple complex, which contains the Temple of Hathor, is one of the best-preserved temples, if not the best-preserved one, in all of Upper Egypt. The whole complex covers some 40,000 square meters and is surrounded by a hefty mud brick wall. The present Temple of Hathor dates back to July 54 BC, at the time of Ptolemy XII of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius, but it rests on the foundations of earlier buildings dating back at least as far as Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid builder Cheops, the second Pharaoh of the 4th dynasty [c. 2613–c. 2494 BC]) but it was the pharaoh Pepi I Meryre who built the temple.

It was once home to the celebrated Dendera zodiac, which is now displayed in the Louvre Museum in Paris. There are also Roman and pharaonic Mammisi (birth houses), ruins of a Coptic church and a small chapel dedicated to Isis, dating to the Roman or the Ptolemaic epoch.

In the vicinity of the temple complex a bakery dated to the First Intermediate Period was discovered by the French-Polish expedition from the Institut français d’archéologie orientale (IFAO) and the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw. Bread offered to Hathor was baked here. The team also excavated the so-called Eastern Temple in this area.

The area around the temple has been extensively landscaped and now has a modern visitor centre, bazaar and small cafeteria.

Ecclesiastical history

After Egypt became a Roman possession, the city of Tentyris was part of the Late Roman province of Thebais Secunda. Its bishopric was a suffragan of Ptolemais Hermiou, the capital and metropolitan see of the province. Little is known of the history of Christianity in the place, as only the names of two ancient bishops are given:

• Pachomius the Great, generally recognized as the founder of Christian cenobitic monasticism
• Serapion or Aprion, a contemporary and friend of the monk Pachomius, whose diocese boasted the celebrated convent of Tabenna.

The town was given its present Arabic name of Denderah during the late Ottoman Empire and ruled 6000 inhabitants in Qena (Qeneh) district.

Titular see

Under the Latin name Tentyris, the episcopal see was nominally revived as a titular bishopric (in Curiate Italian repeatedly renamed) since 1902, but is vacant since 1972, having had the following incumbents of the fitting episcopal (lowest) rank :

• Matteo Gaughren, Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.) (1902.01.13 – 1914.05.30)
• Emile-Marie Bunoz, O.M.I. (1917.06.13 – 1945.06.03)
• André van den Bronk, Society of African Missions (S.M.A.) (1946.07.30 – 1952.05.15)
• Teodoro Bensch (1956.12.01 – 1958.01.07)
• Jean-Rosière-Eugène Arnaud, Paris Foreign Missions Society (M.E.P.) (1958.03.02 – 1972.09.11).

Climate

This area has a large amount of sunshine year round due to its stable descending air and high pressure. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Dendera has a hot desert climate, abbreviated "BWh" on climate maps.

Sponsors

File:Ptolemy before Hathor, Philae.jpg|Ptolemy XII before Hathor and Philae, at the Hathor Temple, Dendera, which he built in 54 BC. File:Ptolemy before Isis & Osiris, Dendera Temple.jpg|Ptolemy XII before Isis and Osiris, at the Hathor Temple, Dendera. Image:Roman Emperor Domitian on the Northern gate of Dendera Temple, Egypt.jpg|Roman Emperor Domitian on the Northern gate of the Temple of Hathor. File:Roman Emperor Trajan at Dendera, Egypt.jpg|Roman Emperor Trajan at Dendera, Egypt File:Trajan_offers_to_Hathor_%26_Ra-Harakhte%2C_Dendera.jpg|Roman Emperor Trajan offers to Hathor and Ra-Harakhte, Dendera. File:Emperor Trajan, Dendera.jpg|Emperor Trajan as a Pharaoh making an offering to the Gods, in Dendera.

Monuments

File:DenderaHathorTempleComplexQenaEgypt622-2007feb10PhotoByCsorfolyDaniel.JPG|Dendera Temple complex. File:Aegypt1987036 hg.jpg|Dendera Temple of Hathor. File:Dendera Bes 01a.JPG|Relief of Bes in the Hathor Temple courtyard. File:Aegypt1987-078 hg.jpg|Domitian Monumental Gate, a later Roman addition, as seen from afar. File:Dendera Hathorkopf 01.JPG|Portrait relief of Hathor. For Hathor and Bat, another bovine goddess, they are unique in that such depictions of them facing the onlooker and not in profile in accordance with the characteristic Egyptian convention are common. File:Dendera Tempelkomplex 07.JPG File:Dendera Mammisi Nektanebos I. 02.JPG File:Dendera Römische Säulen 02.JPG File:SFEC-DENDERA-2010-112.JPG File:Dendera Tempelkomplex 02.JPG File:Egypt.Dendera.Hathor.01.jpg File:Denderah Outside.JPG File:Dendera Tempelkomplex 06.JPG File:Flickr - Gaspa - Dendara, tempio di Hator (11).jpg File:Dendera Topo Map.jpg File:Dendera Hathor-Heiligtum 01.JPG File:Temple of Hathor, Ceiling, Dendera, Egypt.jpg File:Дендера.jpg

References – Notes

References

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7. Hawas, Zahi. (2002). "مخطوط معجم اللغة المصرية القديمة احمد كمال كمال. الجزء االثاني عشر". Al-maǧlis al-aʿlá li-l-aṯār, high council of antiquities.
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11. Gardiner, Alan H.. (1947). "Ancient Egyptian Onomastica 2". Oxford University Press.
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17. Łukaszewicz, Adam. (2003). "Dendera: Interim communiqué.". Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean.
18. [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2t80.html Tentyris] at catholic-hierarchy.org.
19. "Dandara, Egypt Köpen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase.
20. "Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods - UNESCO World Heritage Centre".
21. "Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods - UNESCO World Heritage Centre".
22. (2002). "Sage and Emperor: Plutarch, Greek Intellectuals, and Roman Power in the Time of Trajan (98-117 A.D.)". Leuven University Press.