Summary

The temple of Hathor at Dendara is one of these architectural wonders which the Expedition of Egypt, led by Napoleon Bonaparte, revealed to the world. The round zodiac decorating the ceiling of an osirian chapel is one of these astronomical achievements which gave rise to intense polemics - related to the chronology of humanity, in this case. Fortunately, our always growing knowledge of the old Egyptian writing and history, combined with the scientific study of its astronomical content, will progressively brush aside every one of the more or less fanciful hypothesis advanced, and lead to accurately date it. From which year ? That is what the reading of this dossier will tell you - on the basis of the detailed study of the astronomical content of the zodiac. The put at your disposal of the software leading to determine the astronomical source of orientation of any monument will furthermore allow you to know which star was possibly used to orientate the temples of Isis and Hathor.

Author

Karine Gadré, Culture Diff' company-head.
Dates of first publication and successive updates : november 2001 / january 2004 / january 2007

Access to the content

This dossier is made up of 43 pages and 36 illustrations. An interactive menu, a chronological space, a search by theme and by keywords are otherwise available. To access its content and check these functionalities, simply click on the upper menu.

Exlusively at Culture Diff'

From now on, each Egyptian term is written in the hieroglyphic and transliterated forms. In order to benefit from this improvement, simply download the related fonts then copy them in your file entitled True Type Fonts.
Put at your disposal of the software leading to determine the astronomical source of orientation of any monument applied to the temple of Isis and Hathor. You will thus be able to test by yourself the validity of each one of the historical data deduced from this astronomical study. In order to benefit from this option, please first login.

Further information

(Egyptian Gallery) Dendara "Room"
(AstroLogiciel) Software determining the astronomical source of orientation of a monument
(AstroEgypto) The sky of ancient Egypt : stellar clocks, water clocks and astronomical ceilings

Bibliography

Amer I.H. et Morardet B., "Les dates de la construction du temple majeur d'Hathor à Dendara à l'époque gréco-romaine", ASAE 69, 1983, pages 255-258.
Aubourg Eric, "La date de conception du temple d'Hathor à Dendéra", BIFAO, 1995.
Clagett Marshall, "Ancient Egyptian Science : Calendars, Clocks and Astronomy", American Philosophical Society, 1995.
Cauville Sylvie, "Le temple de Dendérah", IFAO, 1995.
Cauville Sylvie, "Le temple d'Isis à Dendéra", BIFAO, 1995.
Cauville Sylvie, "Le zodiaque d'Osiris", Peeters, 1997.
Gadré Karine, "Logiciel de détermination de la source astronomique d'orientation d'un édifice", Culture Diff', 2003.
Neugebauer Otto, Parker Richard A., "Egyptian Astronomical Texts : Decans, Planets, Constellations and Zodiacs", Brown University, 1969.
Quaegebeur J., "Cléopâtre VII et le temple de Dendara", GM 120, 1991, pages 53-55
Winter H., "A Reconsideration of the newly Discovered Building Inscription on the Temple of Denderah", GM 108, 1989, pages 75-85.