Egypt, Ever a Wonder! (Part 8): And Then, There Was Dendera!

- April 5, 2026, Sunday, Easter.

- Ancient Egypt is home to a civilization that reveals more mysteries the more humans understand it. One temple that embodies just that is none other than Dendera Temple in Qena, around an hour north of Luxor. (We booked this day tour at GetYourGuide.)

- Dendera Temple was built in the 4th century BCE and is one of the largest ancient temples in Egypt. It was built during the time of Ptolemy XII until the time of Cleopatra VII (the Cleopatra the whole world knows of). It is dedicated mostly to Hathor, the cow-headed goddess of fertility. 

Dendera.

My tour guide's idea.

Zodiac signs in the sky.

Pillars with the face of Hathor.

Pharaohs giving offerings to gods.

- But more than this, the temple is also known to be a source of great energy. The temple, for instance, shows what people call the "Dendera Light", carvings which appear to depict light bulbs millennia before the year most people knew they were invented. Hence, enthusiasts of the supernatural and aliens have taken an interest in the temple. There are also some people who come to the temple to meditate (which I found out was supposedly not allowed). 

Dendera Light.

Inner shrine for Hathor.

More ceiling carvings.

Hathor's head.

The only temple where I was able to go to the rooftop!

Large pillars with Hathor.

There was an Isis temple at the back.

Inside the Isis temple.

Cleopatra VII and her son Caesarion. They were also the last Ptolemaic pharaohs.

I'm a sphinx!

- Our tour was supposedly a Dendera-Abydos Temple tour. However, our tour guide gave us the option to go to a closer temple, since Abydos was around 2 hours away from Dendera (then 3 hours back to Luxor). While Abydos is an important temple, fortunately, the alternative was one of the other temples that I had wanted to visit as well. Now, we had more time to go around Dendera, and go on a more relaxed pace from there on. (My dad and I were still recovering from our long trip to Abu Simbel the day before, after all.)

- The Medinet Habu was built in 12th century BCE during the time of Ramesses III. It is located near the Valley of the Kings at the West Bank of Luxor. It was a mortuary temple dedicated to himself, as well as to Amun-Ra. What makes this temple more interesting is that the archaeological site that surrounds the temple shows human settlement through different historical periods. This is also one of the temples that also acted as the pharaoh's palace. Speaking of pharaohs' palaces, most of these palaces didn't survive because they were built to last for as far as the pharaoh was alive. However, mortuary temples and burial chambers were built to last forever as death is eternal.

Medinet Habu entrance.


Main temple.

Hieroglyphs.

Bas relief details.

Hypostyle Hall at the back of the temple. This area is in ruins.

Statues of Ramesses III.

 

If you look closely at the bas relief, you'll see Ramesses III on a horse.

I'm standing on there Ramesses III's throne would have been.

The royal toilet. And yes, I'm not joking.

Ruins of various settlements.

Hey there little buddy.

- We had lunch right after our temple visits, and were driven back to our hotel. The drive was quick since we were just at the opposite side of the Nile from our hotel. I spent the early afternoon doing some last minute shopping in El Souk, but had to rush back to the hotel (Hilton Luxor) to hop on a felucca for a one-hour cruise along the Nile (I booked the one we had at the hotel; it was slightly more expensive but at least I didn't have to haggle anymore). The felucca is a traditional boat used in Egypt and nearby countries. I was really really glad I got to do this because there was only one slot left, and all slots left for the rest of the day were already full. Even better, I had the felucca all to myself!!

On a felucca. My boatman, Sharif, is there at the back making sure our boat moves.

My first time to see a wild kingfisher! Sharif pointed it out to me.

This is a tiny island called "Bird Island", and it looks like it's floating along the Nile. Not sure if this is the official name, but that's what Sharif told me. He said it's because there are many kinds of birds on that small island. That's the same kingfisher in the photo above.

It's so hard to take a photo of them. They fly fast!

Pretending to be in charge of the felucca.

View of downtown Luxor (and a bit of the Karnak Temple at the right side.)

Fixing the sails.

I never expected him to go all the way up!!

With another felucca at the back.

Inside the felucca.

- My last day in Luxor was well spent, and over all, Luxor was such an amazing gateway to Upper Egypt. I'm also thankful that there are so many day trip options too, since driving on my own would not have been practical. I learned and immersed myself so much in ancient Egypt during my 5 days in Luxor. At the same time, rural Luxor did make me miss the hustle of urban Cairo!