Sekhem: Hathor, the Feminine Heart and the Flow of Feeling

Sekhem, Hathor and the Temple as a House of Life

Sekhem Teachings. The architectural and historical material that follows is preserved as anonymous sharing, distinct from the spiritual response about Hathor.

Sharing: Remains of a church can be seen among the temple structures, as at other ancient sites. The explanation connects these remains with the later conversion of temples into churches. They belong to the lived history of the country rather than to the original elements of Egyptian temple art.

Question: Were those walls also made with stone?

Response: No, the enclosure is mud brick. It is described as the oldest surviving part of the temple and associated with the time of Thutmose III, remembered here as a great warrior. The spoken dating is unclear, but the point is that a temple of Hathor existed before the later Greco-Roman construction.

Sharing: Like other temples, the older sanctuary suffered over time. A new temple could be built, or the existing one rebuilt. When an element remained sound enough to conserve, it was preserved, and new work was added around it. Here, much of what survives belongs to those additions.

Sharing: Before entering, the route passes a scene of Cleopatra. Inside, the hypostyle hall recalls the complete hall seen at another temple. Although a pylon and an open court no longer survive here, the design, layout and plan are described as closely matching that earlier example.

Sharing: The visit also includes one of the crypts before time to go upstairs. The crypt contains many features to examine.

Response: The crypts are especially interesting because their carvings were not subjected to the same destruction and chipping seen elsewhere. A nearby image of Hathor is also worth looking at closely and photographing, since so many other faces have had their noses chipped away.

The Living Meaning of Clay

Sharing: The appeal of mud brick is that it represents life. The enclosure wall repeats the idea that the temple is a house of life. For that meaning, the chosen material is not solid stone but the clay of the Nile, from which the bricks are made.

Sharing: In this explanation, the mud-brick enclosure is presented as a recurring feature of ancient Egyptian temples. Seen from a distance, the enclosure signals a house of life.

Sharing: The larger temple setting also includes harbors, drainage systems, wells and stairways. These practical structures belong alongside the symbolic meaning of the enclosure.

Sharing: Attention returns to Sekhem, All Love and the face or head of Hathor.

Hathor and the Feminine Heart

Question: Which chakra does this temple represent?

Response: It represents Hathor. Her energy would be associated with the heart, specifically the feminine heart. Hathor is the feminine heart; Horus is more masculine.