Mammisi

A mammisi (mamisi) is an ancient Egyptian small chapel attached to a larger temple (usually in front of the pylons[1]), built from the Late Period,[2][3] and associated with the nativity of a god.

[1] The word is derived from Coptic – the last phase of the ancient Egyptian language – meaning "birth place".

[1] Taweret, Raet-Tawy and the Seven Hathors who presided over childbirth were particularly revered here, but it is equally common to find references to Bes, Khnum and Osiris himself as fertility deities.

From the end of the Late Period these buildings confirm the restoration of royal power that each dynasty will strive to assert in the very heart of the great sanctuaries of the country, including the Roman emperors.

The famous Roman mammisi – the less ancient one associated with the Dendera Temple complex – was built by Augustus immediately after his conquest of Egypt (31 BC).

The Roman mammisi attached to the Dendera Temple complex , in an ancient photogravure
Relief with Ra , Hathor and Emperor Trajan (AD 98–117) in the Roman mammisi of Dendera
Ruins of the Temple of Montu at Armant , with a glimpse of the mammisi Cleopatra VII dedicated to her son