TUESDAY, AUGUST 3 — LECTURES plus DENDERA

• Explore Dendera’s Temple of Hathor (slide show)
• Discover the precision surveying techniques of Ancient Egypt
• Scope out the famous Dendera Zodiac (original in the Louvre)
• Relax and watch the timeless Nile valley landscape glide by
• Overnight in Nagaa Hammadi

Early morning, disembark the ms DARAKUM and board the ms HAMEES. Late morning, the Hamees sails north to the river port of Qena. After lunch, you’ll visit the Ptolemaic Era Dendera Temple (of Hathor). Dendera (slide show) has been the home of worship of the goddess Hathor since at least 3000 BC. The temple has several astronomy-related features including an illustration of the surveying method (“the stretching of the cord”) used to orient the building to the rising of the constellation Meskhetiye (“The Plow”), a beautiful zodiac ceiling, and a feast calendar. After our tour, we’ll reboard ship and have a short lecture as we continue to cruise North to Cairo.