The Temple of Dendara dates from the time of the Ptolemies, which places it in a period of turmoil and transition. In the rear on an outside wall--which in the Egyptian temples is always the most recent construction--we saw the famous engraving of Cleopatra some twelve feet tall. The temple was dedicated to the Goddess Hathor, identified with the cow and apparently also associated with love, joy and the Milky Way. Very early Christians occupied the temple, built campfires and cooked meals, blackening the
beautifully painted ceilings. The Christian worshipers also obliterated the faces on dozens of statues and engravings. Some of these works of art stood thirty feet or more above the ground, and could only be defaced with determined effort, motivated it would seem by religious energy aimed at ridding the world of pagan gods. Curiously, the monotheists left the hieroglyphic texts throughout the temple undisturbed.