Dendera is a small town in Egypt situated on the west bank of the Nile, about 5 km south of Qena on the opposite side of the river. At a rather isolated place at the edge of the desert, about 2.5 km south-west of the modern town, lies what Dendera is famous for, a mostly Greco-Roman temple complex known in ancient Egyptian as Iunet or Tantere.

The modern Arab town is built on the ancient site of Ta-ynt-netert, which means 'She of the Divine Pillar', or Tentyra, which is Greek for Dendera. It was once the capital of the 6th Nome (Pharaonic province) of Upper Egypt, and was also named Nikentori or Nitentori, which signifies willow wood or willow earth. Others derive the name from the sky and fertility goddess Hathor, also associated with the Greek Aphrodite, who was especially worshiped there.