It was stinking hot when we landed at the airport in Abu Simbel. Kirsten had lent me a black scarf so I could wear a singlet top underneath & still keep the perverts at bay. Not that they really perved at me cause they definitely prefer blondes over here - thank goodness! The bus ride to the temple didn’t take too long, & after a quick toilet stop, we entered the temple ground gates.
We had to walk about 500m to the entrance of the temple of King Ramses II. This temple & the smaller one dedicated to his main wife, Nefertari, were both moved to a higher level in the 1960's to prevent them from erosion due to flooding. What a massive effort that would have been.
We had to walk about 500m to the entrance of the temple of King Ramses II. This temple & the smaller one dedicated to his main wife, Nefertari, were both moved to a higher level in the 1960's to prevent them from erosion due to flooding. What a massive effort that would have been.
Ramses temple was enormous with many more rooms built into it. It really told an incredible story through the carvings & hieroglyphics which were, literally, all over the temple walls & ceiling & dedicated to various Gods - Isis, Horus, Ibis, etc. The very back room had 4 statues in there, one of which was Ramses. Twice a year at sunrise, the sunlight pierces through the entrance to the very back of the temple into this room & for 18 minutes shines on the statue of Ramses. The last time this happened, the Tourist & Antiquities Police counted over 12,000 tourists on the day coming to observe this phenomenon. Unfortunately, you weren’t permitted to take photos inside either temple, but we were allowed to take photos from the entrance looking in. Of course, the guards wanted a small fee for this & I, of course, completely ignored their request.
Nefertari's temple was built adjacent to Ramses temple, looking out to Lake Nasser. It was much smaller with fewer rooms. This was dedicated to Hathor, the Goddess of love & music, offering many gifts to the Goddess. Neither temple had much colour left, just a few dibs & dabs here & there, generally in areas shielded from the elements.
After an hour of wandering on my own through the two temples, I made my way through the scorching heat back to the café for a Sprite. I completely forgot to visit the visitor’s centre which outlines the process of relocation of the temples - silly me.
Nefertari's temple was built adjacent to Ramses temple, looking out to Lake Nasser. It was much smaller with fewer rooms. This was dedicated to Hathor, the Goddess of love & music, offering many gifts to the Goddess. Neither temple had much colour left, just a few dibs & dabs here & there, generally in areas shielded from the elements.
After an hour of wandering on my own through the two temples, I made my way through the scorching heat back to the café for a Sprite. I completely forgot to visit the visitor’s centre which outlines the process of relocation of the temples - silly me.
No comments:
Post a Comment