Dendera and Abydos: the two best-preserved temples most visitors skip

Roofs, colour, crypts, a staircase to the sky. An hour and two and a half hours north of Luxor.

Dendera and Abydos are the two most complete temples in Egypt: Dendera (60 km north of Luxor) is Ptolemaic and Roman with its roof, its cleaned painted ceilings and the only large relief of Cleopatra; Abydos (160 km) has the Temple of Seti I with the finest raised reliefs in the country and the King List. The day from Luxor costs 85 EUR with an Egyptologist, lunch and tickets; from Hurghada 115 EUR via the Safaga road.

Abydos

The holiest place in ancient Egypt, where Osiris was buried. Seti I's temple has seven sanctuaries and reliefs so fine they look modelled rather than carved. In the King List corridor the king and the young Ramses II read the names of 76 predecessors; Hatshepsut and Akhenaten are missing on purpose. The Osireion behind is a granite hall built as Osiris's tomb.

Dendera

The Temple of Hathor was built between 54 BC and AD 60 and never lost its roof. The hypostyle hall ceiling was cleaned between 2005 and 2020 and shows Nut, the sky, and the zodiac in blue and gold. Stairs lead to the roof chapels; the crypts below hold the "Dendera light" relief; on the rear wall, Cleopatra VII and Caesarion.

	Abydos	Dendera
Built	c. 1290 BC, Seti I	54 BC–AD 60, Ptolemies and Romans
Famous for	raised reliefs, King List	painted ceiling, zodiac, Cleopatra
Distance from Luxor	160 km, 2.5 h	60 km, 1 h
Time on site	2 h	2 h