The Temple of Dendur opened in the Met’s Sackler Wing in 1978.
The opening took place on September 27, 1978, after the ancient monument had been dismantled, transported, and reconstructed inside a purpose-built gallery. The temple was originally located in Nubia, south of Aswan, near the Nile’s western bank.
Built during the Roman period of Egyptian history, the temple was begun under the emperor Augustus and completed by about 10 BCE. Its reliefs honor the goddess Isis, the god Osiris, and two local brothers who were deified after their deaths. The building includes a gate, a columned porch, offering rooms, and an inner sanctuary.
The monument was threatened by flooding connected with the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Egypt gave it to the United States in 1965 in recognition of American assistance during the international Nubian salvage campaign, and it was awarded to the Met in 1967. The 1978 opening marked its new life as one of the museum’s signature landmarks.