Dendera and Abydos

Two Temples North Of Luxor That Most Visitors Never Reach: Dendera, Whose Hathor Ceiling Has Been Cleaned Back To Its Original Blues And Golds And Whose Crypts Can Be Entered, And Abydos, Where The Temple Of Seti I Carries The Finest Raised Relief In Egypt And The King List Naming Seventy Six Predecessors · Qena, Qena

North of Luxor the Nile valley holds two temples that most visitors never reach, and they are among the finest in Egypt. Dendera, outside Qena, is a Ptolemaic and Roman temple of Hathor whose hypostyle ceiling has been cleaned of centuries of soot back to its original deep blues, golds and reds - the single best surviving painted ceiling in the country - with astronomical figures, a zodiac whose original was taken to Paris in 1821, and crypts beneath the floor you can climb down into. A hundred and fifty kilometres further north-west, in Sohag governorate, Abydos was the cult centre of Osiris and the place every Egyptian wanted to be buried near. The Temple of Seti I there carries the finest raised relief anywhere in Egypt, still coloured in places, and the king list naming seventy-six of Seti's predecessors, which is one of the foundations of Egyptian chronology. Both are long drives from Luxor, and both are usually empty when you arrive.

Temple of Hathor at Dendera outside Qena, with the Temple of Seti I at Abydos 150 km further north-west in Sohag governorate, Qena, Qena, Egypt

Both open daily from early morning to late afternoon, shorter in winter, with separate tickets. The practical question is the road: Dendera is about an hour and a half from Luxor and Abydos another hour and a half beyond it, so the pair makes a long day and some drivers will only do one. Whether a convoy or escort arrangement applies on that route has varied over the years - ask a Luxor driver or hotel, because the answer changes and affects your departure time. At Dendera, the crypts and the roof chapels are locked and opened by an attendant, and whether both are accessible varies; ask at the gate and tip accordingly. Neither site has a cafe worth the name. Nile cruise itineraries sometimes include Dendera as an excursion from Luxor.

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