Dendera - Temple of Hathor - Crypts

The subterranean chambers or crypts, which may have been used for storing cult vessels and divine images which were no longer required, are of interest both for their construction and for the fresh coloring of the paintings. There are altogether 12 such chambers, constructed at different levels in the thickness of the temple walls. The elaborate mural reliefs date from the reign of Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos, and are thus the oldest as well as the best executed in the whole temple. In the crypt reached through a square opening in the floor of Room 16 are a number of narrow chambers with representations on the walls of the objects which were kept in them. On the right hand wall of the second chamber on the right is a fine relief depicting