Discovering Abu Simbel: A Journey Through History

Abu Simbel is a historic site on the banks of Lake Nasser some 230 kms. from Aswan in Egypt which houses two massive rock cut temples. Egyptian kings often deified themselves and this is one such example where the great temple is dedicated to Ramesses II, the king and the Gods Amon-Ra, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah. The smaller temple at the complex is dedicated to the queen Nefertari and the Goddess Hathor, the cow headed God of love, music and fertility.

History

Built between 1264 -1244 BC, by Ramesses II to commemorate his victory against the Hittites, it is one of the most impressive structures built by him. Nubia was an important region controlled by Egypt and it was very rich in gold and other precious metals. The building of this temple by Ramesses II is also attributed to his wanting to impress the Nubians about his prowess. By 6th century BC, the temples fell into disuse and was covered by sand. It was in 1813 that a Swiss researcher Burckhardt discovered the partly buried temple.

Relocation

When Egypt embarked on a project to build the Aswan High Dam, the temple was in danger of submersion. It was the UNESCO and other partner nations who together embarked on an ambitious project to relocate this temple between 1964 and 1968. Relocation of this temple was one of the greatest challenges of engineering undertaken by a multinational team of archaeologists, engineers and heavy equipment operators. The entire complex was dismantled, lifted and relocated to a higher and farther location from the river bank.

The relocation process and a model of the old (red) and new(green) locations of the temple (archives)

Our Trip

We had checked into our cruise liner at Aswan the previous afternoon and indulged in some activities like a felucca (sail boat) ride and a visit to a Nubian village. From the cruise liner, we started early morning with packed breakfast for a 3 hour drive to Abu Simbel .The drive was through the desert and offered us nice views of the desert …. particularly the sunrise .

The sun rises on the Sahara

The desert road and a pit stop on the way

As we drove along, we were very close to the Sudan border as this temple is very close to Sudan. Finally, we arrived at our destination and a short walk along the banks of Lake Nasser took us to the temple threshold.

The Pathway to the temple by lake Nasser and the board showing old and new location.

As mentioned earlier there are two temples in the Abu Simbel complex, The Great Temple and The Small Temple.

The Great Temple

This is the first temple that we come across as we approach the complex. The Great temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated to the Gods Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah.

The entrance to the temple is incredible to behold. There are four colossal statues of Ramesses II in a sitting position and wearing the crown of upper and lower Egypt; two on either side of the doorway to the inside. The statue to the immediate left of the entrance was damaged during an earthquake and was not restored but placed at the feet of the statues where they were found. Next to Ramesses’s legs are smaller statues of his wife Nefertari, his mother and his children.

Just above the doorway is a bas-relief of the king worshiping the falcon headed God Ra-Horakhty

Entrance to the Great temple with the four statues and smaller statues near the legs.

Bas-relief above the doorway showing Ramesses II worshiping Ra-Horakhty (falcon headed God)

The inner part of the temple has the same layout that most Egyptian temples follow. The hall has 8 huge columns depicting the deified king Ramesses II .

The inner hall with huge carved columns resembling Ramesses II

The interior of this hall is adorned from floor to ceiling with reliefs of Ramesses II making offerings and engaging in war with the Hittites and various hieroglyphic inscriptions.

Ramesses II making offerings to Horus

War scenes where Ramesses II is seen attacking the Hittites

The reliefs on the ceiling

As we enter the second hall, there are gigantic pillars with reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions.

The second hall of the Ramesses II temple with pillars having reliefs

Bas-relief showing Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari

From this hall we are led into the sanctuary of the temple which is similar to the sanctum sanctorum.

Here on a black wall are four rock cut statues ; Ra Horakhty, Ramesses II, Amun Ra and Ptah. It is believed that the axis of the ancient temple was so designed that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the Sun would illuminate the three statues except Ptah who is the God of the dead who always remains in dark.

At the sanctuary with four sculptures

After we exited the Great temple, a walk of about hundred meters ahead, lead us to the Small Temple

The Small Temple

The Small Temple is dedicated to Goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari.

The entrance facade of the Small Temple

The rock cut facade is decorated with six statues of the king and queen ; three on either side of the doorway. This is the second temple in Egyptian history to be dedicated to a queen; the first one being the one dedicated to Queen Nefertiti. Remarkably, this is one of the very few places where the queen’s statue is of the same size as the king! Usually, they are all depicted below the knees of the king.

Entering through the doorway, we reached a hall with pillars but here the focus is on the Queen Nefertari and Goddess Hathor.

First pillar hall of Nefertari temple

One of the most illustrative reliefs here is of Queen Nefertari making offerings of Papyrus to Hathor, the cow headed Goddess on a boat in a papyrus grove.

Nefertari making papyrus offerings to Hathor

Another bas relief showing the queen making offerings

Many of the pillars here have Goddess Hathor with the cow head depicted on the top.

A Hathoric pillar

The interior is entirely done up with coloured reliefs

The interior walls with coloured reliefs

Moving into the sanctuary, the main sanctum has a niche in the wall with the cow goddess Hathor coming out of a mountain with the queen making offerings to her.

The main sanctum of the small temple.

As we move out of the temple complex there are beautiful views of Lake Nasser.

Lake Nasser as we see it from the Abu Simbel Temple.

Soon, we all assembled at the appointed location and proceeded to the bus . We had to reach the cruise ship by noon to sail to Kom Ombo . The Kom Ombo temple dedicated to crocodiles was our destination that evening.

See you next week at the crocodile temple. Till then, do subscribe, like and comment.