Dendera Temple

The temple of Hathor at Dendera is Ptolemaic and Roman rather than Pharaonic, built and decorated between roughly the first century BC and the second century AD, and it is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt, complete with its roof. A long cleaning programme removed centuries of soot from the hypostyle hall ceiling and revealed the astronomical decoration in strong colour: sky goddesses, zodiac figures, and the hours of the night, painted rather than merely carved. Stairs lead up to roof chapels and down into decorated crypts used to store cult equipment. On the rear exterior wall is a large relief of Cleopatra VII with her son Caesarion, one of the few contemporary images of her. A Roman birth house and a Coptic basilica stand in the enclosure.

What you actually see

• The cleaned astronomical ceiling - colour recovered from under centuries of soot.
• Decorated crypts - narrow chambers below the sanctuary floor.
• Roof chapels - reached by stairs carved with processions.
• Cleopatra on the rear wall - a contemporary relief with Caesarion.

When to go

October to April. Three hours. Mornings before the Luxor coaches arrive, or late afternoon after they leave. It is often combined with Abydos in one long day, which shortchanges both.

Honest expectations

The crypts are narrow, low and can be claustrophobic, and only some are open. Roof access is sometimes closed. The site fills with large groups mid-morning. The Cleopatra relief is worn and lower than expected, and visitors often walk past it.

Nearby

Qena is across the river; Luxor is ninety minutes upstream.