“IN PHOTOS” is a series I will use to share many of the hundreds of photos I have taken during my travels. It is a series I have thought about for a while now, but did not want to start until I got back home from my trip. However after spending a week in Chefchaouen, Morocco I couldn’t wait any longer. “IN PHOTOS” will not have a set schedule like my “MUSIC MONDAY” or “PHOTO ROUND UP” series. “IN PHOTOS” will be a post with several photos with no limit. The only restriction this series will have is that it must be about a certain subject or theme. I will write a brief paragraph or sentence describing the subject or theme of the photos and then post the photos. I will not caption the photos like I do on my “PHOTO ROUND UP” with my thoughts. I want to use “IN PHOTOS” to share my photos and let you come up with your own thoughts about the images and hope you share them with me. I have also numbered them in case you want to leave a comment about a specific photo.
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I walked into the temple and my JAW DROPPED… I was in AWE… I couldn’t believe my eyes. I couldn’t believe all the color I was seeing. I hadn’t seen this much color in a temple at all and could only imagine how colorful things must have been during the golden ages, but when I stepped into this temple I didn’t have to imagine because I could still see so much of the color. I have spent over 4 months in Egypt and have seen a huge portion of the temples tourist are allowed to see and this temple is the one you can’t miss if you visit Egypt. So what temple is it you may be wondering? It is the Temple of Hathor at the site of Dendara. It is off the beaten path for sure and sadly the only way tourist can get to it is by hiring a taxi for the day or trying to find a tour that will take you. It’s an amazing day trip from Luxor and if you are going to visit the Temple of Hathor in Dendara be sure to also visit the Temple of Seti I in Abydos.
The Temple of Hathor was built at the very end of the Pharaonic period and is one of the best preserved temples in all of Egypt. The temple still has it’s stone roof, many twisting stairways, columns, and dark chambers all carved with hieroglyphics. What helped preserve the colors of the temples was the black soot that built up on the ancient colors over the course of 100s of years and was recently carefully cleaned and exposed for us to witness. Though the temple is famous for it’s preservation and color it is also famous for a few reliefs that have drawn a lot of curiosity and attention. The temple is home to the famous Dendara Lights which are reliefs that some say depict Ancient Egyptian electrical technology, because they look like modern day light bulbs. The following 20 photos are photos of the Temple of Hathor with minimal changes. I normally like making some of the colors in my photos pop out more, but for these I only sharpened them to show the detail. I know they don’t look bright, but that is exactly how they look in the temple and I didn’t want to change that. After seeing many temples with out color or very light color you will really appreciate these. I hope if any of you visit Egypt you make an effort to visit this temple because it is seriously the best.
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Hope you enjoyed the photos & I hope you share your thoughts below.
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PREVIOUS IN PHOTOS
- Streets of Cairo in photos.
- Al-Azhar Park the “Central Park” of Cairo in photos.
- Faces of India in photos.
- 60 images from Tahrir Sq. after the historical announcement of Egypt’s new President.
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blown away… its like a movie set but its a real temple!!! thanks for sharing man 🙂
flipnomad recently posted..Ancient Buddhist Art
I know right Flip… exactly. I just couldn’t believe it. When you visit Egypt you must visit here!
I studied art history in college and had a few classes on Egyptian art history, when I saw the title of your post I though “Temple of Hathor”, glad I am right! I have never been to Egypt but this temple is truly outstanding JUST from pictures and words in a book. I loved your photos, so great. Thank you, and I am sort of envious you got to explore the temples of Egypt! One day I will make it there…
OMG Sal… your comment just made me so happy. I love that you were able to guess the temple by the title. Ahh this temple was hands down the best… I mean just amazing. I loved it so much. Glad you liked the photos and I hope one day you visit all the temples of Egypt. When you do visit Egypt let me know and I will help you out. If you really want to you can make it happen. I love love LOVE Egypt and I’m sure you will too.
Jamie, if they had had the tech, do you think they’d have made their temples look like Vegas? 😉
Wait I’m confused WT… I don’t get the comment. I’m sorry…
Wow! This temple on my to visit place now, I have not gone to Egypt but I will surely keep this in mind… and thank you for the wonderful post:)
Your welcome… you are able to visit it. It is really the best.
I remember once – my father told me how colourful Egypt had been in its hay day … I did not believe him. Now looking at your photos I am inclined to thing he may have been on to something. Thanks for sharing. I hope to travel to Egypt someday. Hopefully not in the too distant future. But we travel with our tiny dog and I have yet to figure out how that will “go down” in Egypt.
I have just discovered your blog. I think I may go to your past and see what I find.
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Oh man after seeing this temple… I could only IMAGINE how colorful Egypt must have really been in it’s PRIME. Oh wow traveling with a dog should be interesting. Glad you discovered my blog and glad you enjoy it.
Incredible place. Thanks for not tweaking the photos. The colors are amazing and really give an idea of the original vibrance of the temple. Beautiful. Adding a new destination to my future travels list…
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Glad you enjoyed the photos Gayla it is by far the most amazing temple in Egypt. It’s just so beautiful. Hope you make it to Egypt and when you do let me know and I will help ya plan it. It’s my favorite country in the world.
What explains the colour variations in the 4th photo? Restorations? Are they trying to show how destroyed Dendera was in the past/how it looks retouched?
Exactly that… they want to show that and also because it takes a very long time to actually get the black stuff to come off so it’s a very difficult task. If you can you should really visit this temple… it’s seriously my favorite one.
I’m trying to get Mia at the Boomerang to arrange it. But the two of us already discovered that sometimes e-mails are not getting through to Luxor – I hope it’s not some sort of internal censorship, but server problems. Fingers crossed.
Milosz, you don’t have to plan so far in advance you will be just fine planning once you arrive. You are going to be so exhausted after this vacation. Take things slow… and a leisure pace.
It’s just so beautiful. Hope you make it to Egypt and when you do let me know and I will help ya plan it. You are going to be so exhausted after this vacation. The colors are amazing and really give an idea of the original vibrance of the temple. I did not believe him. Now looking at your photos I am inclined to think he may have been on to something.
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It’s just so beautiful. Hope you make it to Egypt and when you do let me know and I will help ya plan it. You are going to be so exhausted after this vacation. The colors are amazing and really give an idea of the original vibrance of the temple. I did not believe him. Now looking at your photos I am inclined to think he may have been on to something.
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