DAY 9 – The Amazing Temple of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari

Today we said farewell to our boat, Sanctuary Sun Boat IV to fly to Abu Simbel. The Aswan airport was small however we still passed through several layers of security. The Egyptians take security seriously.

At the airport there were several bunkers with military equipment.

The barron sands were spotted with shadows from the clouds. Quite the site.

Lake Nassar, one of the world's largest artificial lakes is massive.

Flying over the desert, you could see the rugged nature of the region. Lake Nassar had plenty of undeveloped shoreline.

Abu Simbel is a village in the Egyptian part of Nubia, about 240 kilometers southwest of Aswan and near the border with Sudan. It has about 2600 inhabitants. It is best known as the site of the Abu Simbel Temples, which were built by King Ramses II.

When we arrived we immediately traveled the temples. The small village looked very desolate and I could imagine in the heat of the summer, it was not a fun place to live or to even visit.

There was additional security at the temples.

As we rounded the corner, we immediately saw the commanding twin temples of Ramses II and his wife, Queen Nefertari. The former’s façade is dominated by four statues of the pharaoh, each nearly 70 feet tall.

The temples are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments", which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic.

DW and  I posed for this photo to represent how awesome this whole adventure has been. It was overwhelming!

In the 1960's, the Egyptian government planned to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile which would have submerged both temples (and also surrounding the Temple of Philae). Between 1964 and 1968, a massive undertaking was carried out in which both temples were dismantled and moved 213 feet (65 metres) up onto the plateau of the cliffs they once sat below and re-built 690 feet (210 metres) to the north-west of their original location. This initiative was spearheaded by UNESCO, with a multi-national team of archaeologists, at a cost of over 40 million US dollars.  Great care was taken to orient both temples in exactly the same direction as before and a man-made mountain was erected to give the impression of the temples cut into the rock cliff.

As we were leaving the site, we discovered documentation of the process of moving the temples. Hubby D and I would have stayed and studied these if we had more time.

After visiting these amazing temples, we flew back to Cairo and checked into the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. It was a very lovely hotel and once again, we can see the great pyramids from our balcony.

Our room was exceptionally lovely with a wonderful balcony with an unbelievable view.

And, we had a huge bathroom. This was a big change (and a treat) from the small bathroom on the boat.

We experienced so much in just one 24 hours. It was certainly a significant day!

Sunset was great!

Just two days left and we are looking forward to experiencing Cairo.

Cheers,
Brenda