Qena
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General Information
Other Name: -, District: Qena, State: Upper Region, Egypt
Area: 0 -
Languages Spoken: Arabic
Long Distance Code: -
Importance: -
Best Time to Visit: - to - and -
International Access: -Description
Qena is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate.The city also has a considerable Islamic heritage and a famous Mosque. The Maghrebi Abd el-Rahim settled in Qena upon his return from Mecca and founded a Sufi center here. Upon his death in 1195, the mosque was built above his tomb and became a place of pilgrimage. There is a huge modern mosque of Sheikh el-Qenawi in the main square which attests to his importance.Location
about 57 miles from El Balyana and 39 miles north of Luxor.Climate
Hot and humid
The remains of ancient Dendera are prominently situated on the west bank of the Nile opposite the town of Qena, at a wide bend in the river. This was one of the most ancient and most famous of Egyptian cities, capital of the sixth nome of Upper Egypt. The Greek and modern Arabic names of the site are derived from its ancient designation of Yunet or Yunet Tantere.When, in ancient times, the economic center of the area and the bulk of the population moved from the west bank of the Nile to Qena on the east bank Yunet Tantere remained the principal center of the cult of Hathor, goddess of love and joy, who was equated with the Greek Aphrodite. The splendid temple
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in which she was worshiped together with her husband, the falcon headed Horus of Edfu, and her youthful son Ihi (or Harsomtus), god of music, is one of the best preserved in Egypt. The principal ceremonies in her honor coincided with the great New Year festival.
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in which she was worshiped together with her husband, the falcon headed Horus of Edfu, and her youthful son Ihi (or Harsomtus), god of music, is one of the best preserved in Egypt. The principal ceremonies in her honor coincided with the great New Year festival.
Ignoring for the moment the smaller buildings to the right of the entrance, we proceed straight ahead to the Temple of Hathor, oriented approximately north and south. This was built during the reigns of the last Ptolemies and the Emperor Augustus on the site of an earlier temple traditionally believed to date from the Old Kingdom (at least sixth Dynasty) which was altered or added to principally by the kings of the 12th Dynasty and by the great rulers of the New Kingdom.