Great House

Temple of Hathor, Dendera (plan)

The hieroglyph in cartouches reads per-a'a, meaning "Great House" or "Palace." The Greek word "pharaoh" is derived from this. The panel associates the "Great House," ie Pharaoh, with the "House of Horus," ie Hathor. The cartouche is doubled in order to represent both the pharaoh's throne name and his personal name. Because the ruler's name does not appear in this relief, is thought that the throne of Egypt was unsettled at the time, so the priests were hedging their bets.

The subject of the panel is Pharaoh offering shen (eternity, protection) to Hathor, who is out of the photo to the left. Her hieroglyph, a hawk inside a stylized house, appears in the upper left corner. Hathor means "house of Horus" in Egyptian. Since Horus is a hawk, his house must be the sky. This tells us that Hathor was originally a sky goddess, and also suggests her role as Horus' wife, the lady of his house.