Egyptologists, who discovered the temple, first attributed its construction to ancient times - as early as 15 thousand years before our era.
However, gradually studying the features of the temple, its wall images and hieroglyphs, scientists were at a loss. Many finds pointed to its later construction, or rather to the era of the reign of the Ptolemaic and Roman emperors dynasty, that is, to the 1st century BC and even the beginning of our era. In support of this, the famous explorer Jean-François Champollion announced in 1822 that he had found an inscription in the temple, which he read as "autocrat". This "title" was borne only by Roman emperors. As a result, in many reference books you can still read that the temple of Hathor in Dendera was created only during the time of the Ptolemies.
At one time, we asked familiar Egyptologists to indicate the sources in which some real finds (in addition to the mentioned inscription) would be named or described, which would tie the temple of Dendera to the Ptolemaic period. A month of very conscientious searches ended in nothing. More precisely, a statement that there is absolutely no objective data for such a dating. There is just a well-established opinion of a respected authority …
Jean-Francois Champollion.
Meanwhile, even in the very first hall from the entrance, you can see that from under the floor blocks… cylindrical blocks of some columns. Nobody builds like that. So in antiquity, only more ancient structures were restored.
Now, Egyptologists are forced to admit that the Ptolemies were only one of the last builders. Before them, the complex and the temple itself were rebuilt many times (!). Thus, stone blocks with the names of the great kings of the Middle and New Kingdoms - Amenemhat III and Thutmose III were found at the base of the building erected on the territory of the complex in the 1st millennium BC under the Ptolemies. And in the texts on the walls of the temple of Hathor, mention of more ancient times has been preserved. According to these texts, even in the XXIII century BC Pharaoh of the 6th dynasty Pepi I expanded the ancient sanctuary of the goddess, in memory of which he bore the title "Beloved Hathor of Dendera." There are those who are inclined to attribute the creation of the temple to even deeper times - in particular, to the time of the Pharaoh of the IV dynasty Khufu (to whom Egyptologists attribute the creation of the Great Pyramid on the Giza plateau).
In my opinion, the history of the temple may be significantly older. So, a much more venerable age is indicated, for example, by gutters, which on the roof of the temple look like just through holes in the surrounding walls, and outside are decorated with figures of lions. And this is not an imitation (for imitation it would be enough lions outside), but clearly functional gutters. The creation of such drains in the dry climate of Egypt in this area at the time of even the very first dynasties of the pharaohs was absolutely pointless - there were not so strong rainfalls that a permanent drain was required. Heavy rains ended here several thousand years before the pharaohs. There are relevant studies of climate change in Egypt in ancient times, and their conclusions are widely known …
A drain on the outside of the wall of the Hathor temple.
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Most of the drawings on the walls of the temple are much more prosaic in nature than the relief images in the crypt. There is something that looks like a description of instructions, what and how the priests should do to serve the goddess, what exactly and in what order to give her, what music to play (there is even an image of notes), and so on and so forth …
These instructions are so detailed, so detailed that as you look at them, the feeling of some kind of cult gradually disappears and, on the contrary, a feeling of complete reality comes, a feeling of the absolute reliability of the local legend, which says that the temple is a real home goddess Hathor. And Hathor was an ordinary female goddess with her passions and preferences. And with a strange sense of loyalty to two gods at the same time - Horus and Thoth. The temple, according to legend, was not just her home - it also served as a place for her meetings with these gods.
And these are not only internal sensations - the entire layout of the temple fully corresponds to this legend about the loving goddess, as we had the opportunity to see for ourselves.
The local superintendent led us up the stairs, going up the "square spiral". And we found ourselves first in one and then in the second room, which looked alike like twin brothers. Each of these rooms consisted of two rooms with an area of about twenty square meters each - the first room was separated from the "street" by a wall with a passage and a pair of windows, and between the first room and the second there was only a doorway. Standing in the first room of one of these rooms and feeling the coolness of the twilight in the middle of a hot day, I suddenly realized to the core that everything is very, very suitable for a cozy love nest!.. Moreover, according to the legend - for the version of two lovers!.. Two identical rooms, in which the first room is intended for a light dinner (breakfast or lunch - it doesn't matter) and verbal foreplay, the second is a bedroom.
It is curious that the very famous Dendera circle of the Zodiac was located on the ceiling in the first room of one of these rooms. And in the second room of the same room, the walls are decorated with images of scenes from the life, death and resurrection of Osiris - the father of Horus!..
When we went to the roof of the temple, the last doubts collapsed. The roof was not just a roof at all. It was a landing pad for some kind of aircraft!.. Otherwise, it is simply impossible to explain why it was necessary to make not an ordinary flat rectangular pad, but also clearly strengthen it, laying not one, but at least three layers (this is just what was seen) limestone blocks weighing tens of tons, and correspondingly increasing the load on the supporting columns!..
And when we climbed even a little higher - to the roof of one of the side structures, the picture took shape completely. God (Horus or Thoth) flew here on some kind of aircraft - not necessarily a "flying saucer", it could well be an ordinary helicopter. Then he went down to the gazebo located on the roof next to the landing site, where he could rest after the journey in the cool shade. And then - followed to one of the two meeting rooms.
If suddenly two gods accidentally crossed here at the same time, they could be separated by different corridors - for this in another corner there is an entrance to the second, "linear" descent down.
The legend has found full realism …
The Temple of Hathor is not at all a "house of prayer" of the ancient Egyptians, but just a cozy love nest, where Hathor managed to meet two gods at once. And if you rely on the well-known list of the rulers of Egypt, compiled by Manetho and taking into account the periods of reign of various gods, then this happened approximately 9 thousand years BC (the time of the reign of Horus, according to Manetho, 8920-8620 BC). The initial estimate of the age of the temple by Egyptologists was much closer to this date than the dating of Champollion …
On the roof of the temple of Hathor.
Let us now recall that the gods were served by priests, for whom there were very detailed instructions on the walls of the temple on this occasion. Accordingly, the priests had the opportunity to communicate with the gods. But not only to communicate - they saw the objects that these gods had. It is not excluded and even very likely that the priests saw these objects in action.
Furthermore. According to ancient legends, Hathor, Horus and Thoth belonged to the galaxy of ancient gods who were "civilizers" and passed on knowledge to people in various fields. And among this knowledge there could well be some information about the functioning and purpose of "divine" objects.
And finally, the third point. Thoth is the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and knowledge. He significantly stood out from all the Egyptian gods for his knowledge and skill. He was actually a kind of "academic" among the gods. The creation of the most complex "divine" objects has always been credited with him. And this "academician" was just a frequent visitor to the Hathor temple in Dendera.
So there were all the prerequisites for the priests to gain some knowledge about very high-tech items, including electrical ones. And these priests could keep knowledge on the walls of the temple.
It is curious in this regard that in the paintings of the temple there are images that resemble our usual electric incandescent lamps - much simpler in design than those depicted on the walls of the crypt.
incandescent amps - in Dendera and modern.
The walls of the crypt under the floor of the temple, of course, in this case served the priests in order to preserve the most important, most secret knowledge. And in connection with this, one more image, which is available here, attracts attention.
Author: A. Sklyarov.
Recommended reading: "The Great Menat of the Goddess Hathor".