NARRATOR: Deep within Egypt's vast interior
lies a unique ancient complex,
Dendera.
It's really, really impressive.
There's absolutely nothing else like it all over Egypt.
NARRATOR: This majestic temple is adorned with
a spectacular array of mysterious signs of the zodiac.
WOMAN: The temple of Dendera is a place
to understand and decode the ancient universe.
NARRATOR: Now, investigators venture
deep into the temple's crypts...
The access is very low.
...and bring vibrant paintings back to life...
These images are the most unique in Egypt.
...to unlock Dendera's secrets.
What is this captivating site,
and who builds it?
He was one of the last members of
one of the last dynasties of ancient Egypt.
NARRATOR: And why does it entice the most beguiling pharaoh of
them all, Cleopatra?
To solve these mysteries,
we blow Dendera apart and unearth
its unique interior.
We hunt for the rulers who build this temple.
We decode its incredible zodiac depictions,
digitally reconstruct
this magnificent complex in its prime,
and reveal the secrets
of Dendera's Zodiac Temple.
Dendera,
an ancient complex on the banks of the Nile.
Dendera is situated 285 miles south of Cairo
and is revered for millennia by ancient Egypt's pharaohs.
This is a religious site that is
almost as ancient as the Egyptian civilization itself.
NARRATOR: Each part of this awe-inspiring temple
is built over 3,000 years of Egyptian history.
In antiquity,
Dendera is sacred.
A 3,500-foot-long mud brick wall
protects 18 acres of holy ground.
A monumental gate
leads to a series of temples, store rooms,
a bathhouse,
and a ceremonial pool.
One majestic temple
dominates the heart of this complex.
What is this ancient site, and who builds it?
Cedric Gobeil
is on a mission to uncover the secrets of Dendera.
GOBEIL: I've been coming to this place for more than 15 years,
and what strikes me is the size of the monuments,
really, the diversity,
all the details of every scenes that are there to
be seen.
NARRATOR: Cedric ventures to the heart of
the complex to look for clues to Dendera's purpose.
The colossal facade of the central temple features
six vast columns, each one 50 feet tall.
And on the top of each column, a mysterious figure.
The figure on the top of
the columns must be extremely important.
These are the head of a powerful entity,
perhaps a deity, and it looks like she has some cow-like
features, like for the ears, for instance.
NARRATOR: Most of the figure's key features have been removed.
It makes it difficult for Cedric to establish
who the God is or what it might represent.
Cedric examines the temple's exterior walls
for clues to the deity.
Here, she has the horns on the top of her head.
She's having the sun disc between these horns,
which means that she must be very powerful,
very powerful goddess, because sun is linked
with life and power.
She is depicted all over the walls of
the temple and on many features of this monument.
NARRATOR: Cedric is curious to learn more about the goddess.
He ventures inside the temple.
It is breathtaking.
The vast walls and columns
are covered with inscriptions and images.
No surface is left undecorated.
The preservation is unique in Egypt.
The colors are still vivid after millennia.
Cedric looks for evidence to identify this mysterious deity,
and something catches his eye.
A large relief of the goddess sits on the interior wall.
The same goddess that we've been seeing
all around in this temple.
NARRATOR: Ancient hieroglyphs surround the image.
GOBEIL: I can read her name, and her name is right there --
Hathor.
So it's the goddess Hathor.
NARRATOR: Hathor is a powerful female goddess worshiped from
the Old Kingdom until the Greco-Roman period of
Egyptian history.
What Hathor represents from what I gathered here that
she represents a very positive
aspect of life, among those love
dance, music, motherhood.
NARRATOR: The image of the goddess Hathor is everywhere,
most notably at the apex of the huge pillars.
Ancient Egyptian pharaohs build the main structure
as a temple to worship her.
Pepi I, a pharaoh of Egypt's Old Kingdom
is the first to build here,
over 4,000 years ago.
There must have been a lot of very important
and sacred rituals happening in this temple.
NARRATOR: In its prime, hieroglyphic inscriptions adorn
the 24 sandstone pillars of this hall.
At their top,
the faces of Hathor are painted in vivid colors.
At the back of the temple,
22 chambers surround a sanctuary.
Inside are two sacred barques and a stone shrine
for a 6-foot golden statue of Hathor.
Can clues within the temple reveal
what sacred rituals take place here?
Evidence may lie in the thousands of images
and hieroglyphs that cover the walls,
but many are difficult to decipher.
The temple lies abandoned for centuries
after the fall of the pharaohs.
Sand, dirt, and soot builds up over the ancient reliefs,
concealing them from investigators.
Mamdouh Ghandar is an expert in ancient restoration.
He and his team are tasked
with restoring Hathor Temple's centuries-old reliefs.
They work chamber by chamber
to delicately transform the ancient walls,
removing layers of soot from modern settlers' fires
to reveal previously hidden details.
NARRATOR: Mamdouh starts by removing the compacted dirt
with a fine brush.
Next, he applies a paper press with a specialized
chemical solution to remove the final layer of dirt.
Mamdouh and his team have restored
up to half of the temple's reliefs.
And now Cedric can investigate them to
find out what rituals are performed here.
Cedric makes his way up the ancient staircase.
I see a group of priests carrying a portable shrine
and all they have these leather straps
around their neck -- must have been very heavy.
And the reason is, inside was
the gold statue of the goddess Hathor.
NARRATOR: These reliefs imitate the priests who walk
these exact steps over 2,000 years ago.
And for the ancient Egyptians, it was not only a statue,
it was the goddess herself.
NARRATOR: The procession is evidence of
an important event in the Egyptian calendar --
the Egyptian New Year.
Every new year before sunrise,
the temple priests purify themselves
in the ceremonial pool.
They then carry the golden statue
of Hathor up the sacred staircase
to the temple roof.
Here they place the statue in a small chapel
so it is ready to be exposed to the first rays of the sun.
As the dawn breaks, the sun illuminates the statue,
and Hathor is reunited with her father,
the sun god, Re.
Cedric investigates the rooftop chapel.
GOBEIL: While it was covered with a veil,
the priest, while standing outside, would have been waiting
for the sun to be at the right position.
At that very moment, they would have unveiled
the kiosk,
therefore revealing the statue to the rays of sunlight.
That would have made this goddess,
Hathor, being fully rejuvenated by the sun.
NARRATOR: The rulers of ancient Egypt built this magnificent
temple to honor the powerful and popular goddess, Hathor.
Here, they celebrate her rebirth
and all the positive aspects she represents.
But Dendera's magnificent reliefs
depict more than just Hathor.
Why does Egypt's most alluring pharaoh, Cleopatra,
depict herself as the goddess Hathor here?
Could unique reliefs discovered around the site
hold clues?
NARRATOR: Dendera, Egypt,
a holy site centered around
a temple to the powerful goddess, Hathor.
But Hathor is not the only goddess depicted here.
Cedric Gobeil investigates a stunning relief
at the back of the temple.
Here, I see the image of a very important person,
and I know that, because we have a pair of cartouche
in front of it.
So it must be a pharaoh of some kind.
There's a K-L-O-P-A,
so Cleo,
then D-R-A -- Cleopatra.
This is fantastic.
This is an image of the queen, Cleopatra,
the legendary ruler.
There's the horn of a cow, the sun disc between the horns.
So she's really seeing herself
and putting herself here as a goddess.
NARRATOR: Cleopatra is Egypt's last pharaoh, born
in 69 BCE from Greek Macedonian heritage.
She rules the country for 21 years
from her capital, Alexandria.
She is an accomplished mathematician
and a gifted linguist, fluent in nine languages.
Cleopatra is the only foreign ruler
who learns to speak the Egyptian language.
This relief is powerful evidence
of her direct association with Hathor.
This representation of Cleopatra,
in fact, is very rare.
Only very few evidences remain in Egypt of her.
NARRATOR: Cedric hunts for further evidence
of why Cleopatra associates herself with Dendera.
He explores an intriguing structure near
to her relief, which could contain clues.
Hathor's temple is the main structure at Dendera.
Next to it,
two small chapels -- in the furthest,
a columned entrance leads to three rooms.
The last is a sanctuary
for a statue of Hathor nursing the child god, Ihy.
Priests come here to honor the birth of the gods
and to celebrate the birth of new pharaohs.
What can this small chapel tell us
about Hathor and Cleopatra's devotion to her?
Cedric investigates a relief on
the exterior of the small chapel.
This is a very good representation
of the goddess Hathor.
In fact, she's not here only represented as a goddess
but as a mother goddess, because we can see
that she's breastfeeding a child god.
There's a hieroglyph here that can be read,
"mut n,"
which can be translated "mother of,"
and she's clearly here the mother to gods.
NARRATOR: Cedric explores the inside wall
of the chapel for more evidence.
GOBEIL: We clearly see the goddess Hathor offering
the ankh sign, the symbol of life, to the coming pharaoh.
This not only tells us that Hathor was the mother of
the gods, but that she was also
the mother to the pharaohs.
Maybe this is why Cleopatra depicts herself as Hathor.
NARRATOR: Cedric wants to find out
why Cleopatra depicts herself as Hathor,
the divine mother to gods and pharaohs.
He believes the reason could be linked
with her efforts to maintain her political power.
What I'm looking at here are two coins.
The one to the right depicts Mark Antony,
a late partner of Cleopatra.
Whereas the coin to the left depicts Cleopatra herself.
The first thing I see is that she is depicting herself
with Romanesque features that are similar
to those of Mark Antony.
She's trying to establish a clear affiliation with
the world dominant power at the time, the Roman Empire.
NARRATOR: In 51 BCE,
Cleopatra succeeds her father, Ptolemy XII,
but has to share the throne with her 10-year-old brother.
A power struggle between the two siblings
forces the queen to flee from Egypt.
She plots her return to power,
forms an alliance with Julius Caesar,
[baby crying]
and bears him a child, Caesarion.
Caesar's mighty Roman legions
help Cleopatra defeat her brother
and reclaim the Egyptian throne.
GOBEIL: Cleopatra was a formidable diplomat.
Despite seeking alliances with Rome,
she was determined to keep Egypt independent
and under her rule.
NARRATOR: The precarious power politics could help
explain Cleopatra's efforts
to depict herself as at one with Hathor.
Cedric returns to the relief of Cleopatra
on the main temple
to piece together the clues.
It was very smart of Cleopatra to choose
to depict herself as one of the most beloved goddesses.
By doing so, she was trying to increase her popularity
with the Egyptians at a difficult time in
the country's history.
In fact, it was a very good political strategy.
NARRATOR: Cleopatra is a savvy politician,
and she has one eye on the future.
Next to Cleopatra is a depiction of
the son that she had with Caesar, Caesarion.
By portraying herself as the goddess Hathor,
she was also legitimizing her son,
Caesarion, as the rightful ruler after her.
NARRATOR: Cleopatra adds her reliefs to the temple
around 44 BCE.
But Dendera and the worship of Hathor begin long before then.
Who are the rulers of
the mighty civilization that builds this temple?
Can crypts hidden deep beneath the temple's structure
hold important clues?
NARRATOR: The great temple of
Hathor at the mysterious complex of Dendera.
Its spectacular reliefs make it unique.
But what's hidden beneath these ornate chambers
is equally compelling.
Below the temple,
a series of crypts stretches 300 feet underground.
In one of the crypts at the back of the temple,
priests store small ceremonial objects
and offerings for festivals to the goddess...
an ancient musical instrument,
a sistrum, carved in the likeness of Hathor,
an incense burner,
bread,
and even beer jars.
Could these crypts reveal more clues
about the rulers that build this temple?
Cedric Gobeil searches the subterranean crypts....
The access is very low.
...for evidence of the main temple's construction.
Here I can see gods and goddesses
from Egypt's deep past.
I can clearly recognize Tefnut
and Nucknun.
They're absolutely beautiful.
NARRATOR: He makes his way through the chambers
and discovers a depiction of a pharaoh
resplendent in his distinctive headdress.
GOBEIL: This is Ptolemy XII.
He was Cleopatra's father, and he ruled Egypt for 26 years.
He was one of the last members of
one of the last dynasties of ancient Egypt, the Ptolomies.
NARRATOR: The Ptolemies are the final dynasty
of 3,000 years of ancient Egypt.
This evidence of Ptolemy XII in
the crypt is vital for Cedric's understanding of
Dendera temple.
This image of Ptolemy XII is an important discovery,
because it tells me that the construction
of this temple was started under his reign.
NARRATOR: Cedric wants to find out why the Ptolemies
choose to construct this magnificent temple to Hathor
at Dendera.
He ascends to the ground floor of the temple
to look for clues in its best preserved room, the Pronaos.
On the ceiling is a series of cryptic images,
strange creatures and mysterious gods,
which could help his investigation.
Here, we have the depiction of the night sky,
and we see some constellations there that are represented
with Egyptian gods.
Some other star signs are absolutely familiar to us.
For example, the Scorpio here or the Sagittarius sign.
NARRATOR: The symbols are signs of the zodiac,
which aren't typically used in ancient Egypt
and must derive from elsewhere.
Cedric deciphers their origin.
GOBEIL: These star signs are of Greek influence.
The Ptolemies are not native Egyptian rulers.
They are Macedonian Greeks, and they bring with
them the reading of the cosmos to Egypt.
And it's the very same one that we use today.
NARRATOR: The Ptolemaic dynasty follows
a tumultuous period in Egyptian history.
Around 500 BCE,
Egypt falls under Persian rule
and, for 200 years, remains a vassal state of this empire.
In 334 BCE,
Greek leader Alexander the Great conquers
Persian territories
before setting his sights on Egypt.
His army overthrows the Persian occupiers,
and Alexander is hailed as a liberator in Egypt.
He is crowned pharaoh but dies shortly after.
His general, Ptolomy, succeeds him
and establishes the Ptolemaic dynasty.
The Ptolemies rule Egypt for 275 years, from 305 BCE
until the death of Cleopatra in 30 BCE.
They are an authoritarian Greek elite.
They build temples across Egypt in
a blend of Greek and Egyptian style
to solidify their presence as the new rightful rulers.
And they take special care
to worship the ancient Egyptian deities,
like Isis at Philae
and Hathor at Dendera.
They build an exquisite temple like no other.
It is decorated with more vibrant
and intricate images than any before it.
What is the meaning of
the zodiac symbols that cover the ceiling?
Could they hold clues to what happens in this temple?
NARRATOR: Dendera.
For thousands of years,
this temple complex is
a significant religious site for ancient Egyptians.
Constructed over centuries by successive pharaohs,
it stands today as one of
the best preserved temples in Egypt.
The ceiling is covered with ancient
depictions of constellations of the night sky...
...the star signs of both
ancient Egyptian pharaohs and Greek rulers,
but on the roof of the temple
is a relief that has confounded investigators
for centuries.
On the ceiling of this small chapel,
beneath a layer of soot,
archaeologists discover a stunning carving.
Originally painted in vivid colors,
it depicts figures and mystical signs
inscribed on a disc.
Thirty-six Egyptian gods surround the outside.
Other Egyptian gods
and Greek zodiac signs fill the middle.
These icons from different cultures seem
to be arranged in a specific order.
What does this ceiling tell us
about the ancient understanding of the universe?
Yossra Ibrahim is an expert in ancient Egyptian astronomy.
She examines Dendera's chapel to decode
the mysteries of this incredible zodiac.
IBRAHIM: The ceiling at Dendera is one of the earliest
Egyptian zodiacs
we have available for investigation.
And after years of research,
there is still a lot to learn about these zodiacal images.
NARRATOR: Investigators have debated
when the Dendera zodiac is created.
Many believe it dates to the end of
the Ptolemaic period and the rule of Cleopatra.
The original Zodiac is now in the Louvre Museum in Paris.
It is removed and taken there in the 1800s.
The ceiling of the chapel today holds
an exact replica for investigators to examine.
This 8-foot-wide carving offers a unique
insight into how the ancient Egyptians viewed the cosmos.
IBRAHIM: The zodiac is one of the visual
and graphic representations
of the ancient Egyptian night sky.
NARRATOR: The zodiac depicts the heavens as a disc held
up by four female pillars and assisted by eight falcons.
Twenty-four hands hold up the disc.
IBRAHIM: Around the circle, we have different deities.
These deities represent decans.
The decans here are special stars utilized by
the Ancient Egyptians to record and measure time.
NARRATOR: A decan is a star that appears
in the eastern sky at dawn,
right before the sun rises.
A new decan star group appears every 10 days.
Ancient Egyptians use this recurring event
to regulate their calendar.
IBRAHIM: By accurately measuring time,
the ancient Egyptians were able to determine the time of
important festivals, such as
the New Year's Festival, and seasonal changes that were
central to the Egyptian society.
NARRATOR: The 12 Zodiac signs represent
the 12 months of the year, then just as now.
IBRAHIM: In the middle of the zodiac,
we have several star constellations.
Some of them took the Egyptian iconography
and represent Egyptian concepts,
while others look familiar to us today.
For example, we have Leo depicted as a lion striding on
a snake, Pisces as fish tied to ropes,
and Scorpio.
NARRATOR: This incredible scene blends ancient Egyptian
and Greek ideas of how the universe can be understood.
Astronomer priests carefully study the cosmos.
The regular appearance of stars and constellations in
the night sky is recorded across the centuries.
They use their records to make sense of
their universe and to try to predict the future.
IBRAHIM: The zodiac is a representation of how
the ancient Egyptians visualized the night sky.
Astronomy in itself is a very practical science.
The Egyptians depended on it for the measuring of time.
NARRATOR: Yossra explores how the ancient astronomer priests
track the stars across the night sky.
IBRAHIM: The ancient Egyptian priest astronomers would climb
to the roof during the night and use these tools,
the merkhet and the sighting rod in order to find the stars
and plot them as they crossed the ancient night sky.
NARRATOR: Dendera's priests are expert astronomers.
They use cutting-edge ancient technology to study the cosmos.
So the merkhet is this L-shaped wooden object,
and attached to it is
the plumb line and the bob to hold it steady in its place.
The merkhet would be used in conjunction
with the sighting rod in order to
plot the exact location of the star and track it
as it crosses the sky, so perhaps like this.
NARRATOR: Ancient priests use the merkhet
to observe the stars and planets in the sky.
They group stars into constellations, patterns
representing Egyptian gods
and the Greek signs of the zodiac.
The priests map out the ancient sky on the ceiling
of the Hathor Temple
so that they can try to predict the will of the gods.
They use the stars to devise a calendar for
their religious festivals and predict
when the Nile will flood.
The priests practice and perfect
their astronomy at Dendera.
Their knowledge of the cosmos gives them great power.
The temple of Dendera is more
than a celebration of the goddess Hathor,
it's a place where we can decode the Egyptian universe.
How do ancient engineers construct
this magnificent dual purpose temple?
Could clues lie buried beneath the desert sands?
NARRATOR: Hathor Temple looms over the site of Dendera.
This structure dominates the desert landscape.
It has stood here for millennia.
Cedric Gobeil investigates how the ancient engineers
build this majestic temple in the sand.
This is a religious site for thousands of years
before Cleopatra makes her additions to the temple.
NARRATOR: Cedric's eye is drawn to what looks like
an old wall, half buried beneath the sand,
but there's more here than meets the eye.
GOBEIL: These are mud brick foundations, and these are
set before the construction of the whole temple.
And this is the very first stage
of the construction of the whole building.
NARRATOR: It is a hidden example of ancient engineering
at its finest.
Ancient Egyptians build a 600-foot-long
mud brick enclosure for the foundations.
They fill it with sand
before laying down slabs of stone
to produce a flat surface.
On top, they erect their temple.
Egyptian temples like this usually align with
the path of the sun from east to west.
But in Dendera,
the temple of Hathor deviates by 90 degrees.
Why does Dendera break from tradition?
Cedric is on a mission to find out.
He makes his way to the temple roof.
When Egyptian engineers build a temple,
they do so with the greatest precision.
The sun is always central in every religious ritual.
This is why most of the temples are built along
an east-west axis,
but then Dendera is different.
There must be a reason.
NARRATOR: Cedric scans the landscape for clues.
In the distance to the southwest is a mountain range.
GOBEIL: This range is called the Western Mountains.
It is of a sacred importance to the ancient Egyptians,
partly because the sun is sitting behind it.
Hathor is known as the goddess of the Western Mountains.
NARRATOR: Ancient priests and engineers choose
this site for the temple to Hathor
due to its proximity to this sacred mountain range.
But the orientation to the north
rather than the east remains a mystery.
Cedric launches a high-resolution
drone-mounted camera...
[robotic voice] Take off.
...to explore the surrounding area for clues.
The access of the temple.
And then from here, if you could start
then also to go a little bit higher.
Yeah, please. Yeah.
-Towards the Nile? -Yeah. Yes, absolutely.
-We clearly see, yes, -Mountains.
the enclosure, the whole site.
We really have the whole -- the whole landscape
of the temple.
It's absolutely amazing.
So from what I see, actually the temple is facing
north towards the Nile,
but the bank of the Nile is located one mile away.
So the access to the river must have changed over time.
NARRATOR: The access changes due to centuries
of irrigation and damming.
In ancient times, the Nile flows
directly in front of this complex.
The Nile's position is more than a coincidence.
It could explain the temple's unusual orientation.
Cedric heads due north towards
the Nile out of Dendera's main gateway.
He soon comes across the remains
of what could be an important clue.
GOBEIL: I see the outline of an ancient ruin that appears
to be either an access ramp or a boat pier.
These are the remains of a large man-made harbor,
allowing access to boats to the temple.
And this is hugely significant, because without proper access
to the river, the temple would have been
cut off from the lifeline of Egypt.
It is essential that goods and offerings
can easily reach the Dendera temple complex.
NARRATOR: The Nile is the main transport route in Egypt.
Priests rely on its waters to
ship food and ritual offerings to Dendera.
They also view the Nile as sacred
for its life-giving powers
and monitor its flood cycle using a set of stairs called
a Nilometer.
Before the flood season,
the priests tow the statue of Hathor over
100 miles up the Nile, from Dendera
to another temple in Edfu.
Here, Hathor is reunited with the falcon god, Horus,
so that the two can conceive the child god, Ihy.
Ancient priests and engineers need
a location that both honors the goddess Hathor
and allows quick and easy access to the Nile.
Every aspect of the temple has
been designed to fit a specific need.
Ancient engineers considered the construction, position,
and orientation of the temple with the utmost care.
NARRATOR: Pharaohs use this site for their rituals
for thousands of years,
all the way through to Cleopatra, who holds it in
high regard.
After the fall of Cleopatra, what becomes of Dendera?
Could one of the last structures to be built
at this extraordinary site
reveal clues to its later use?
NARRATOR: Dendera.
Much of the existing temple complex is
built under the rule of Egypt's last pharaohs,
the Ptolomies,
particularly Cleopatra's father, Ptolemy XII.
Cedric wants to find out if Dendera can
reveal who rules Egypt after this last dynasty.
He hunts for the last structure to be built at Dendera
and returns to the small chapel.
Distinctive hieroglyphic texts here can date its construction
and are a clue to what happens to Egypt
after Cleopatra's rule.
In 44 BCE, a group of senators kill Caesar.
Cleopatra is left with no ally in Rome.
She begins an affair with Caesar's general, Mark Antony.
He joins her in Alexandria and declares Caesar's son,
Caesarion, as the ruler of Rome's eastern provinces.
But Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, sees this
as a threat to his own ambition.
He invades Egypt in 30 BCE and defeats Mark Antony.
In despair, Cleopatra commits suicide
ending 275 years of Ptolemaic rule
and marking the beginning of Roman Egypt.
After Cleopatra's death,
Egypt is subsumed by the growing Roman Empire.
But clues at Dendera suggest that Egyptian and Greek
culture and religion continue to thrive under Roman rule.
Cedric studies the exterior of the small chapel.
GOBEIL: We believe that it was constructed
by no less than Octavian.
After he defeated Cleopatra,
he became emperor of Rome and he changed his name
to Augustus.
He constructed this to project power over his new dominion.
However, the construction also makes another statement,
that Rome was willing
to allow the continuation of the practice of Egyptian
religion and customs.
NARRATOR: Cedric scours the small chapel for
more clues about Egypt under Roman rule.
He examines a stunning relief.
Wow.
This is really extraordinary.
We have here the Emperor Trojan himself, and we clearly
see that, because of -- he has his cartouche here,
where you have his name, he is depicted
as an Egyptian pharaoh.
He is wearing the red crown, and here on the belt,
he is having the word pharaoh.
And what he's doing is giving offerings to no other
than the goddess of the Dendera temple herself, Hathor.
NARRATOR: Long after the fall of the Ptolemies,
Roman rulers are still portrayed adhering to
the religious customs and traditions of ancient Egypt.
After the death of Cleopatra,
Rome conquers Egypt.
However, Dendera shows us that culturally,
it is Egypt that has conquered Rome.
NARRATOR: Dendera's divine temple is an ancient marvel,
from its colossal columns to its elaborate interior.
Dedicated to the mother goddess, Hathor,
discoveries here shed new light on how
Cleopatra portrays herself as a living goddess
and allow investigators to decode how
the ancients understand their universe
through the mysterious zodiac.
Dendera's treasures survived for millennia.
It is one of the best preserved temples
in all of Egypt.