Abydos & Dendera Temples

Abydos was the equivalent of Mecca to the ancient Egyptians. Every citizen wanted to visit this sacred city; if that wasn't possible during their lifetime at least be buried in it's proximity. This was the first intact temple we toured and I was truly impressed. It was built in 1300BC by Seti 1 and his son Ramses II.






Hathor temple was one of my favorite temples. Hathor is the goddess of love, motherhood and joy. Many of the temples were turned into churches and because of this the faces of the Egyptian deities were chipped away. Half of the temple has been restored, which revealed the beautiful colors. The temple must have been a vision in its day.

Unfortunately Hather's face has been chipped away but you can see her cow ears and her headdress. I like to call these the CowGirl Capitols.

This photograph is somewhat out of focus, but I'm sure you can make out the "Bird People". The ancient Egyptians believed the individual's personality turned into this creature after death, which was referred to as the Ba. The Ba was unique to every person.

On the flipside, the Ka was the life force and was the same for everyone. Once the Ba and Ka united, it became the Akh. The Akh is the form the deceased took in the afterlife. Having said that, and with no disrespect meant to the Ancient Egyptians, I think the Ba is kind of goofy looking but rather endearing at the same time.

Parts of the temple were poorly lit so I pointed my flashlight at the wall and this is the result.

Here is a good example of what the temple looked like before cleaning. People lived and of course cooked in the temples which left soot-stained interiors. No doubt cleaning the temples is a long, painstaking and expensive job.