Here on the west bank of the Nile , roughly 370 miles south of Cairo and not far from Luxor , is another EgyHere on the west bank of the Nile , roughly 370 miles south of Cairo and not far from Luxor , is another Egyptian locale rich in ancient cultural treasures. The Dendera Temple complex is one of Ancient Egypt's best-preserved archeological sites, and the columns we see in our image belong to the site’s highlight—the Temple of Hathor . Seemingly every square inch of the temple's surface has been decorated with intricate, colorful carvings and hieroglyphs . The color in the carvings is said to be the original pigment, and its staying power is extraordinary. For thousands of years, much of the ceiling had been covered with thick layers of soot from fires lit by people using the temple for shelter. After much restoration work, which included hauling out tons of sand that had piled up inside, the former centerpiece of Dendera regained its former glory... See more See less
