Egyptology at Dendera

As we mentioned when visiting Dendera, Sylvie Cauville has been working extensively on the temples at Dendera on behalf of the French Institute (IFAO: Institute français d'archéologie orientale). In many publications, she has focused on the texts decorating the temples, recently documenting the Osirian Chapels on the roof of the temple. Rather than detailed epigraphic drawings, like the Oriental Institute's Epigraphic Survey, Cauville documents these scenes using black and white photographs, outline drawings of the scenes, transcriptions of the hieroglyphic texts, and translations. To give you an example of how Egyptologists might work with these texts, here is an example from the doorway of the first Osirian chapel on the east side of the roof:

Dendera: Osirian Chapels on the Roof of the Hathor Temple

Plan of East Osirian Chapels

Doorway of East Chapel 1: Photo Taken on Our Tour

Photo from Publication

Drawing of Scene

Transcription of Hieroglyphic Texts

Transliteration of Hieroglyphs, a scholarly tool used to indicate the consonantal value of the hieroglyphic signs as well as word division and some grammatical elements

Cauville's French Translation

The Osirian chapels were published in the following volumes:

Cauville, Sylvie. Le temple de Dendara: Les chapelles osiriennes. Dendara 10:1-2. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale, 1997.

Cauville, Sylvie. Le Temple de Dendara: Les chapelles osiriennes. Transcriptions et traductions. Bibliotheque d'étude 117. Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997.

Cauville, Sylvie. Le Temple de Dendara: Les chapelles osiriennes. Commentaire. Bibliotheque d'étude 118. Cairo: Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale, 1997.

While we were at Dendera, we also talked about the role of the Wabet "Purification (Room)" of the temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods. For further information, there is the recent publication of Filip Coppens (in English!):

Coppens, Filip. The Wabet: Tradition and Innovation in Temples of the Ptolemaic and Roman Period. Prague: Czech Institute of Egyptology, 2007.