ABU SIMBEL Abu Simbel is located within the Governorate of Aswan, about 175 miles south of this city, on the western shore of Lake Nasser. It can be reached by air from Aswan; the flight departs in the morning and returns in the evening. The time devoted to visit the temples, only a couple of hours, is too short. You can rent a car with driver and spend a night in Abu Simbel. You will have the opportunity (even after dinner time) to spend more time visiting the temples, the town and enjoy the views that the trip offers. The site is home to two rock temples, cut into sandstone, built by Ramses II around the year 1250 of the thirteenth century b.C. The main purposes for Ramses II to built these temples are to serve as a warning to the Nubian tribes wishing to enter Egypt with military aims and to strengthen his divine image. The first report on the Great Temple is the one made, in 1813, by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt while the first excavations and the opening of the temple were made by Giovan Battista Belzoni from Padua in 1817. To save the two temples by rising waters, due to the construction of the Aswan high dam in the 60s of the XX Century, these, thanks to a UNESCO project, have been completely cut in blocks and then reassembled at a higher location, over 200 feet, above the present level of Lake Nasser waters. This huge project allows us today to admire these amazing New Kingdom constructions. The Temple of Ramses II (Great Temple) is dedicated to Ra-Horakhty and to the deified Ramses himself. The facade is 125 feet wide and has a height of 108 feet. On the sides of the temple’s entrance are located four statues of Ramses, 65 feet tall, wearing the composite crown decorated with the cobra and the nemes. Above the statues, originally 22 baboons (today only 14), were placed, facing the east to worship the rising sun, representing the 22 Nomoi into which the Upper Egypt was divided at that time. In the niche above the entrance is a statue of Ra-Horakhty that, as in a rebus, reveals the purpose of Ramses of dedicating this temple not only to Ra-Horakhty but also to himself deified. In fact, under the right hand of the god we see the Scepter User, while under his left hand we see the Maat and above his head the disc of the sun, Ra. By combining the three elements we get User-Maat-Ra that is the name nesu-bity (He of the sedge and bee) of Ramses. At the end of the temple we find the Sanctuary where we see four statues of Ptah, Amun-Ra, Ramses II and Ra. Including himself among these deities, which at the time excelled in the divine pantheon, reinforces his deified image. When the temple was built, two times a year, on February 21, birthday of Ramses, and on October 21, the day of his ascent to the throne, the sun coming through the entrance illuminated Ramses and partially Amun-Ra and Ra. Ptah was not reached by the sun as he was considered the god of darkness. The Temple of Nefertari (Small Temple) is dedicated to Hathor and to the Great royal Wife, Nefertari. The facade is 92 feet wide and has a height of 39 feet. On the sides of the entrance of the temple we find six statues 33 feet high. Four statues depicting Ramses and two Nefertari. Next to the statues of the ruler are represented, in small, the sons while on the sides of the queen, the daughters. It is noteworthy to see how Nefertari, The Great Kings Wife, is sculpted in the same size as that of Ramses II; this is practically the only case in the whole history of egyptian statues work. The entrance opens onto a room whose ceiling is supported by six Hathoric pillars just over 10 feet tall. For further informations visit my website: my-egypt.it/upper-egypt/abu-simbel/
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 10:12:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015