Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt by Christopher Dunn

Author:Christopher Dunn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ancient Civilizations/Egypt
ISBN: 9781591439684
Publisher: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company
Published: 2002-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

Figure 7.2. The Great Hypostyle Hall at Denderah

Like other temples of the Nile, the Temple of Hathor has a long history and has been modified or rebuilt a number of times. Some of its architecture dates to the Ptolemaic and Roman period during the first century BCE. On a rear external wall relief are depicted Cleopatra and her son Ptolemy XV, Philopator Philometor Caesar, who was fathered by Julius Caesar. The Romans constructed a birth house next to the entrance, and the Coptic Christians erected a church.

During the New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE) Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, and Ramses II and III are believed to have added to the structure. There is also an older birth house and an eleventh-dynasty chapel dedicated to King Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, but there is reason to suspect that its original foundation dates back to a remote period of time. Inscriptions on the present structure refer to the work of earlier builders. The oldest construction activities occurred in the time of the Old Kingdom (2650–2134), during the reign of Pepi I (2321–2287) and Khufu (2589–2566).

All these additions, however, pale in comparison to the breathtaking magnificence of the temple itself. It is difficult to describe, because it was specifically designed to convey, through profound experience, incredibly important information. The eighteenth-century writer Amelia Edwards, with elevated prose, attempts to match its superlative attributes:

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