3-038-588 - LTL/Heritage Images

Hathor Temple, Dendera, Egypt. Relief depicting the god Ihy holding a sistrum in his hand. The sistrum was a sacred instrument in ancient Egypt. The one Ihy holds is a naos-sistrum, so-called because its top part took the shape of a temple's sanctuary, or naos. Above the handle is the head of Hathor, Ihy's mother. The existing temple's structure began construction in 54 BC, the late Ptolemaic period.