TUESDAY, AUGUST 3 — DENDERA and LUXOR MUSEUM

• 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)
• Afternoon lecure followed by an before-dinner visit to the modern and fabulous Luxor Museum (slide show)
• Overnight onboard the ms Tosca

Early morning 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. At 5pm we’ll head over to the Luxor Museum (slide show).