Welcome to the Temple of Hethert, the lovely Home of the Goddess of love and happiness, of singing, music and dancing! My name is Inet-ka, I live close by with my family, and when I don´t take care of them, I work in the temple as a singer of Hethert. Let me tell you very briefly about this wonderful place!
The Temple of HetHert (Gr: Hathor) at Iunet (Dendera) as it stands today, was built in the Graeco-Roman Period. The earliest references to a temple date however from the Old Kingdom, inscriptions from the time of Pepy I has been found here. Here are all the classical traits of the period: outer pylons, two hypostyle halls with mighty pillars, and an inner shrine. The main temple is devoted to HetHert but behind the main building, there is also a small temple dedicated to the birth of Aset (Gr: Isis).
Speaking about births, here are two Birth Houses, (Gr: mammissi) in which rituals were held; to celebrate the marriage of HetHert to Heru (Gr: Horus) and the birth of their son, the child-god Ihy ( Harsomthus), which is celebrated once a year with the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion. The Birth House is also the place where every new King will ascertain his Divine Descendancy in order to ascend the throne of the Two Lands as the rightful Living Horus.
If you go up on the roof of the main building, you will see an Osiris chapel there. Once a year, on the New Year we celebrate HetHert coming out of her Shrine and entering the roof chapel to spend a night there. In the morning she joins with the Rising Sun and comes back renewed of life and energy. More about this festival another time.
The most spectacular construction at this temple, is probably the "Sanatorium", a hall to which the sick can come to receive healing and advice from learned priests at the temple. 
Visitors can stay overnight here, in one of the small cubicles, in the hope of receiveing a beneficial dream, which they can have interpreted. It is very popular for women especially, to come here for help and advice in female matters. The Sanatorium at Dendera is the only remaining one though they probably existed at several other temple locations in Egypt.
But the marvels don´t stop here, one of our ceilings is adorned with the famous circle of the night sky, the Greek Zodiac, upon which all the heavenly wonders can be seen. But to see that, you have to go inside the temple building itself.
There are many things to do here at the Temple Precinct. Do you feel like entering the School of HetHert´s Musicians and learn about music, dancing and singing, as well as flowerbinding and the laying-out of beautiful offer-tables for the deities? How to shake a sistrum and rattle the Menat-necklace is part of the teachings but you will probably be asked to bring your own!
Or do you feel a bit worn and want to stay overnight at the Sanatorium and try your luck of having a dream about your future? Our dream interpreters are famous all over Upper Egyt for their cleverness and insights. And while you are here, why not make an appointment with the Temple Astronomer, to learn more about the zodiac, maye you will get your interaction with the heavenly domain elucidated at the same time? Some, I´ve heard, claim that this changed their lifes in a dramatic way...
My friend, I must leave you now, the Midday Service is about to begin and all the singers and musicians are gathering in the Forecourt. But please come back soon and see all the other wonders of this beautiful temple!
