Roman Mammisi

Temple of Hathor. Dendera.

View from the temple roof looking north towards the entrance. From back to front we see the Roman mammisi (reign of Trajan), an early Christian basilica (fifth century AD), and a mammisi begun by Nectanebo I (380-362 BC).

Mammisi (ma-MEE-see, pl. ma-MEE-sees): "birth house," a chapel celebrating the union of two gods from which a divine child - often identified with Pharaoh - is born. Mammisi is an Arabic word; its spelling and pluralization in English is variable.