According to Rothenberg, the temple was built during the reign of Pharaoh Seti I at the end of the 14th century BCE, for the Egyptian miners. The shrine housed an open courtyard with a cella, an area cut into the rock to presumably house a statue of the deity. Earthquake damage caused the temple to be rebuilt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II in the 13th century BCE, with a larger courtyard and more elaborate walls and floors. The dimensions of the original shrine were 15 by 15 metres, and it was faced with white sandstone that was found only at the mining site, several kilometres away. The hieroglyphics, sculptures, and jewellery found in the temple totalled several thousand artifacts, have provided a lot of important information for archaeologists.

The temple originally housed the famous Zodiac of Dendera. This bas-relief with human and animal figures represented a night skyscape, and was found on the ceiling of a chapel in the Temple of Hathor, where the mysteries of the resurrection of the god Osiris were celebrated. It is dedicated to the cow goddess Hathor, one of the most important goddesses of ancient Egypt. The cow goddess was the one who represented fertility, childbirth, motherhood, and was the one that the sick came to ask for healing.