The size of the temple of Amon is amazing. It is the largest temple supported by columns in the world. The most imposing structure is the hypostyle hall which measures over 300 feet long and 159 feet wide. Within its area stands 34 columns, each almost 70 feet high, with open papyrus shaped capitals. Stones resting on top of these columns offer some of the best views of what the temple was like in ancient times. Protected from the Sun the hieroglyphics on their underside are still the brilliant colors they were thousands of years ago. The temple was built by various pharaohs over a long period of time. Amon-Ofis III built the twelve columns architraves, Ramses I began the decoration of this and it was continued by Seti I and Ramses the II. There are a number of obelisks on the temple grounds. Only one remains from Tutmose I and it measures almost 70 feet high and is estimated to weigh 143 tons. Another, higher still, was erected by Hatshepsut, daughter of Tutmose I, and it is said that she provided “bushels of gold as if they were sacks of grain” to build it.

The Temple of Karnak was very elaborately carved with hieroglyphics honoring many different gods. One could spends months just gazing upon these inscriptions and imagining the people who carved them. Continue to the next page to see more of the Temple of Karnak.

And Read :

• Welcome To The Nile Gift in Egypt
• Sumeria, Ancient Sumeria (Sumer), A history of Ancient Sumer Including its Contributions
• WOMEN, RELIGION AND PIETY IN ANCIENT EGYPT
• From Abraham to David – Yahweh
• Zoroastrians and Judaism
• WIFE OF AMUN
• Ancient Pyramids
• Nefertiti
• Ancient egypt woman’s
• The Sumerians Civilization

© eni for Ancient Civilizations, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: about, ancien, Ancient, egyp, egypt, Egypt Pharaoh, from, god, goddess, Hatshepsut, man, More, People, period, Pharaohs, rom, Seti I, size, sun, Temple, the old, war, world

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Hathor
‘House of Horus’

• Woman with the ears of a cow
• A cow
• Woman with a headdress of horns and a sun disk

Hathor was a protective goddess. She was also the goddess of love and joy.

Hathor was the wife of Horus, and was sometimes thought of as the mother of the pharaoh.

Hathor sistrum Hathor was connected with foreign places and materials. For instance, Hathor was the goddess of the desert and the turquoise mines in the Sinai.

A large temple was built to honour Hathor at Dendera.

And Read :

• Isis God in Ancient Egypt
• WOMEN, RELIGION AND PIETY IN ANCIENT EGYPT
• Bastet
• WIFE OF AMUN
• Ancient Egyptian Sexuality
• Ancient Egypt ُSex
• Amun
• Isis, Egyptian Goddess of Magic and Giver of Life
• Dress and Fashion in Ancient Egypt
• Welcome To The Nile Gift in Egypt

© eni for Ancient Civilizations, 2008. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ancien, Ancient, Ancient Egypt, ancientegypt, Dress, egyp, egypt, Egypt Pharaoh, goddess, image, man, rom, roman, size, sun, Temple, woman

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Similar to other temple sites in Egypt, the presently standing complex at Dendera marks the location of a very old holy place. An indication of the antiquity of the temple site is given by the astronomical alignment of the main temple to Gamma Draconis before 5000BC. Early texts refer to a Pre-dynastic temple that was rebuilt during the Old Kingdom, and further developed by New Kingdom pharaohs including Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, and Ramses II and III. The present structure dates to the Greek and Roman periods, with the sanctuary and its surrounding chapels built by the later Ptolemies in the 1^st century BC, and the great Hypostyle Hall by the Romans in the 1^st century AD. Dendera was the chief place for the worship of Hathor, who is variously seen as the patroness of earthly love, the goddess of healing, and the great feminine source of all nourishment (like the Hindu goddess Kali, Hathor also has her terrible aspects; in one ancient myth she is a raging lioness sent to punish mankind for its rebellion).

Recent studies indicate that the temple of Dendera had several interrelated functions. It was a venerated place of pilgrimage where miraculous cures were effected by the goddess; it was a sort of hospital where various physiological, psychological and magical therapies were practiced; and it was the scene of great processions and festivals throughout the astrological cycle. A feature of Dendera not found elsewhere in Egyptian temples are the dozen mysterious crypts, some underground, some enclosed within the massive double walls of the upper temple. It has been suggested that these crypts were the dwelling place of the goddess, where her statue and ritual objects were kept, and where began the great New Year’s processions celebrating the dawn of creation. In the dark of night, the temple priests brought the statue of the goddess from the crypt, through the corridors of the enormous temple and, ascending to the roof, awaited the coming of the dawn. As the first rays of the morning sun broke upon the horizon, the statue was unveiled. Ancient texts speak of this ceremony whereby: “the goddess Hathor might be united with the beams of her father, Re” and that “the sky rejoices, the earth dances, the sacred musicians shout in praise.”

Enclosed within the precincts of the Dendera complex are a sacred lake, a temple of the goddess Isis, and a brick sanatorium where divine healing was practiced. There is also an early Christian church that typifies the situation in so many Egyptian temples, whose sacred precincts were usurped by the Christians. Within the main temple it is interesting to study the beautiful and highly detailed astrological calendars carved and painted upon the ceilings. Visitors may wonder about the blackened condition of other ceilings in the temple. When Napolean’s scholars first visited Dendera they found a centuries-old Arab village firmly established inside the great temple; the villagers’ cooking fires had blackened the ceilings over the years.

Interior of the Temple of Hathor, Dendera

And Read :

• WOMEN, RELIGION AND PIETY IN ANCIENT EGYPT
• Zoroastrians and Judaism
• Sumeria, Ancient Sumeria (Sumer), A history of Ancient Sumer Including its Contributions
• Welcome To The Nile Gift in Egypt
• Nefertiti
• Isis, Egyptian Goddess of Magic and Giver of Life
• The Suns of God – The Biggest Secret
• Ancient egypt woman’s
• the Great Sphinx
• Tutankhamun

© eni for Ancient Civilizations, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: about, Amenhotep, Amenhotep III, ancien, Ancient, ass, Christian, during, egyp, egypt, Egypt Pharaoh, Egyptian, from, goddess, greek, image, man, ming, myth, new year, Old Kingdom, period, Pharaohs, rom, roman, Sites, statue, sun, Temple, the Great, the old

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh