Hathor Temple is one of the best preserved and most beautiful temples in the whole of Egypt.
In ancient times the city in this area was known as Tantere, and was abandoned antiquity. The nearest town to Abydos is the modern city of Qena, located on the East Bank of the Nile. Dendera is located 84 kilometres north of Luxor.
The colours within the temple of Hathor are truly beautiful.
Dendera complex covers an area of 400,000 square meters and is surrounded by a mud brick enclosure wall and was the site for temples and shrines from the beginning of recorded ancient Egyptian history.
The stunning preservation of the temple colours is outstanding in this temple, This gives you an impression of how all the temples once looked in their original painted form. And in no other temple are the colours so vivid and fresh as they are in the Temple of Hathor. Therefore you can imagine how beautiful all the ancient Egyptian temples once were in all their colourful glory.
Opposite you can see the beautiful blues on this section of the temple wall, depicting the night sky and the stars.
The cobra represents sovereignty, royalty and divine authority. The mythical story behind the cobra relates the sacred eye of the creator god, who discovered it had been over shadowed by the sun and in a rage, turned into a deadly cobra. In order to pacify the eye one of the gods placed it on his head and from then on it became a symbol of protection for the kings.
The sun discs shown on the top of the figures heads represented a solar disc which were worn by the deities and represented wisdom, foresight, strength, stability and courage.
The solar disk flanked by wings or serpents represents the sun god Ra.
Talismans made in the form of the sun disc were seen as items, which were believed to provide not only wisdom, foresight, strength and courage but also for good luck and protection to the wearer.