PLAN OF DENDERAH. (Mariette.)
There is ample evidence that each temple was sacred to some god or goddess, although in many cases the name of the patron divinity has been lost.
Fortunately, at Denderah the patron divinities are well known, so it will be well to begin with the temples there. We find a general plan of Denderah among the magnificent drawings which we owe to the French expedition of 1798. This shows the wall round the temple-space containing the temple of Hathor, the great temple; and the smaller temple of Isis at right angles to it. We find, roughly, that the great temple points to the north-east; the smaller temple of Isis points to the south-east. A later plan has been published by Mariette in his work on Denderah.
These, then, are the main conditions of the temples at Denderah. But we can go a little more closely into them by referring to the map which accompanies Biot's memoir, to which I have previously referred. He gives the axis of the Hathor temple pointing, not merely to the north-east, but to 18° E. of N. Since the other temple lies at right angles to the great one, its direction, according to Biot, is 18° S. of E.
To show the uncertainty in these inquiries brought about by the absence of a proper survey, I may give the following later values:—
| 1. Lepsius, 1844— | ||
| Magnetic azimuth of the axis | N. 25° E. | |
| " amplitude " | 65° N. of E. | |
| Correction 8½° | ||
| ∴ Astronomical amplitude | 73½° N. of E. | |
| 2. Mariette, 1870— | ||
| Astronomical azimuth | N. 15° E. | |
| " amplitude | 75° N. of E. | |
| 3. Lockyer, 1891— | ||
| Magnetic azimuth of axis | N. 23° E. | |
| " amplitude " | 67 N. of E. | |
| Assumed correction 4½° | ||
| Astronomical amplitude | 71½° | |
As my value agrees closely with that of Biot, I adhere to it; and it gives, for the amplitude of the temple of Isis at right angles to the Hathor temple, 18½° S. of E.
Now, it is stated distinctly in the inscriptions that "the place of the birth of Isis is to the north-west of the temple of Hathor, its portal is turned to the east, and the sun shines on its portal when it rises to illuminate the world."[50] We learn from this that the small temple was locally celebrated as the birthplace of Isis.
It is, then, a temple of Isis. Who was Isis?
Let us begin by considering the temple, remarking that the inscriptions, apparently relating to both temples, are found in one only. On this point, I, for the present, content myself with quoting Plutarch's statement[51] that Isis and Hathor were the same divinities—at all events, in later Egyptian times.