Temple of Dendera, Qena, Egypt
The temple complex at Dendera is quite large, boasting a basilica, two birth houses, a sacred lake, and numerous other temples and shrines within its walls. Structures at the site hail from an assortment of different ancient Egyptian eras, with monuments from the Middle Kingdom, the Ptolemaic Era, and the period of Roman provincial rule.
There is evidence that the first building on the site went up around 2250 BCE, but the standing structures mostly date from the Ptolemaic era forward. In 1995 BCE, construction likely began on the Mentuhotep II monument, the oldest existing structure when the site was rediscovered. The Mentuhotep monument has since been moved to Cairo. The oldest structure currently there is from Nectanebo II, built ca. 345 BCE. All that said, it may be more accurate to say the structure as we know it began in 54 BCE, when construction began on the Temple of Hathor, the most prominent structure at the Dendera complex.
Epic Egypt Culture & Adventure Route © Monika Newbound
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