Dendara Temple

The 4:00 A.M. wake up call is earlier than I wish. I make it downstairs by 4:30, gulp a cup of weak coffee and board the bus. Our convoy of three busses stops at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Luxor to wait for our police escort. Two police cars accompany our busses on the two hour drive, north, to Dendara Temple. We arrive at the temple just minutes after sunrise and well before any other tour groups. The official who is to grant us this private, early morning entry has not yet arrived and Gary Young, gives us an emotional accounting of the temples' significant history. Mary, Joseph and Jesus took refuge in the temples' crypt when Jesus was three years old and Harrods army was pursuing them. The high priestess removed the capstone from the crypt and hid the holy family within. The temple was attacked and pillaged and the priestesses killed. Two weeks later, the Holy family emerged safely from hiding and Jesus fulfilled his prophecy.

It is just our group to enter the temple site and the morning light imparts a golden glow on the impressive facade. There is magic in the morning and the 4:00 A.M. wake up call is a small price to pay for this private visitation. We divide into our three groups to explore this vast temple and the two other groups vanish into the immense halls and dark sanctuary of the main temple. We begin our visit at the Temple of Isis, a small and richly decorated chapel at the south end of the temple grounds. Our group gathers within pressing up against the cool walls, ornately decorated with bas relief carvings and hieroglyphics. I am surprised that we are allowed to touch the carving upon the wall, but there are no restrictions and I run my fingers along the groves of the hieroglyphics and images. Some in our group begin to chant, hands raised towards the ceiling where sunlight streams in from small windows, dimly illuminating the patterns upon the walls. Others lie prone on the floor, or sit meditatively. The acoustics resonate with the vibrations of the chanting and I too sense an immense energy resonating from this sacred space.

We spend nearly 30 minutes within the Temple of Isis, eventually moving on and into the main temple of Hathor, where Hathor supposedly gave birth to Horus's child. Immense, Hathor-headed columns rise 50 or 60 feet above us, supporting the temple roof. The intricately carved columns and reliefs were once vividly painted and still retain much of their color. We enter a dark sanctuary and snake up a long, narrow, stone corridor, richly embellished with reliefs and leading to the roof top. The corridor maze winds back upon itself several times, eventually opening onto several chambers where sacred rituals were preformed. An astrological ceiling is within one of these chambers; an intricately carved relief of the constellations, coated an iridescent black with centuries of soot from candles and ritual fires. I am fascinated and intrigued by the surroundings, but I feel a dark presence within these corridors and rooms. We exit onto the rooftop with a 380 degree view of the surroundings. It is nearly 9:00 A.M; the early morning glow of sunrise is gone and I see other tourists entering the temple grounds.

Our group has been granted a private visitation to the crypt where the Holy Family took refuge. Only 7 people at a time are allowed entry down into the narrow crypt. Gary Young has been within the crypt since we arrived, speaking to each group of 7 individually. The immense stone capstone has been removed from the floor and our group of 7 are helped down the narrow stairway and passageway into the crypt below. There are two wings to the crypt; each wing about 15 feet long and only 4 or 5 feet wide. Gary stands in one wing and gathers the 7 of us closely together to tell us the history of this sacred space. As a Christian, I am deeply moved by the spirit of the place and try to imagine what it might have been like for the Holy Family, to hide in this small crypt for nearly two weeks.

Back on the busses, we return to Luxor for an early lunch. We will visit Karnak Temple this afternoon.