Sanatorium - the Temple of Dendera Egypt (

Denderah

)

Dendera Temple 2

Further south, beside the Temple of

Hathor

, there is a building known as the "sanatorium".
This building is apparently unique in

Egypt

ian religion and architecture.
The sanatorium was essentially a spa where the people could come to be cured by the goddess.
There were sacred waters for bathing, sleeping quarters (where the sick would hope to gain the help of the goddess in their dreams) and the priests of

Hathor

operated an early pharmacy dispensing unguents and advising on cures.
An inscription on the base of a statue implies that water was poured over the sacred texts inscribed on the statues and that this water could then effect a cure for a wide variety of ailments.
Chapel of Montuhotep
To the west of the sanatorium there was a small chapel built by Montuhotep Nebhepetre (during the eleventh

dynasty

) and featuring inscriptions referring to Merenptah (of the nineteenth

dynasty

).
It is thought that this chapel was dedicated to the cult of the pharaoh rather than the goddess

Hathor

.
The chapel has been dismantled and re-built inside the Cairo Museum.
It is thought that there were ancillary temples dedicated to destruction of the temples of Horus and their child Ihy and/or Hor sema-tawy within the Temple complex, but these buildings have not survived.
The Chapel of the New Year
The Ceiling of the Chapel of the New Year
showing the goddess Nut swallowing the sun nightly and giving birth to it daily.
The sun's rays illuminate

Hathor

.

In one corner of the roof of the Temple, a tiny, open topped shrine was used by priests once a year to allow the statue of

Hathor

to feel the rays of the sun-god, Re.
the Temple of Dendera Egypt (

Denderah

) - Important points
The present building dates back to the times of the Ptolemaic

dynasty

and was completed by the Roman emperor Tiberius, but it rests on the foundations of earlier buildings dating back at least as far as Khufu
(pyramid builder Cheops, second King of the 4th

dynasty

[c.
2613¬c.
2494 BC]),.
The Dendera (

Denderah

) Temple of

Hathor

is undergoing restoration and conservation as part of a highly successful site management plan implemented by the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
The cleaning of its walls
is revealing the Ancient coloration.
The site is now well labeled and there is a new visitor center where a short film is shown.
Visitors can manage their way to the roof of the Temple by means of the same stairs, well worn now, that the Ancient priests of

Hathor

climbed to bring their offerings and shrines.
There is a small open air chapel on the roof.
From here you get to experience the peacefully beautiful panorama of the Temple area and the country side.

The Dendera light (