Lear visited Egypt three times but his first visit in 1849 was confined to Cairo and Mount Sinai. In December 1853 he left Cairo for a journey up the Nile to Philae, passing Denderah in the middle of January and again on his return about a month later. Lear's last trip to Egypt was at much the same time in the winter of 1866-7, but he went further, to Wadi Halfa, and travelled more quickly without overnight stops save at major sites such as Luxor.

Denderah is on the west bank of the Nile between Abydos and Luxor and is the ancient city Tantere (Greek Tentyis). However, the temple, which is dedicated to Habdos, goddess of Love, though one of the best preserved in Egypt, is also one of the latest dating from the 1st century B.C. and later