31/01: Abu Simbel and Philea Temple Light and Sound Show
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
I shouldn’t have complained about the other early mornings. Today we were up at 3am, suitcases in the lobby by 3:45am, a quick coffee, a boat ride to the mainland at 4am then transfer to our bus for the almost 4 hour drive to Abu Simbel temple. Part of the reason for leaving so early was to get near the front of the line at the check point so you could get going quicker when the road opened at 5am. We don’t know why the highway closes but it may have something to do with the border with Sudan.
A quick history on Abu Simbel. The Great Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor combine to make up the Temples Abu Simbel. The temples were carved out of the mountain on the west bank of the Nile between 1274 and 1244 BC under the direction of Ramses II. The main temple is dedicated to the deified Ramses II himself as to Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah (gods). The lesser temple is in honour of Ramses II’s favourite wife (Nefertari). Over the centuries both the Nile and the desert sands shifted and the temple was lost to the world until 1813 when it was rediscovered by chance by a Swiss explorer. In the 1960’s the ruler of Egypt decided that it was necessary to build a dam on the Nile River. The resulting lake would flood this temple and it would be lost possibly forever. Unesco stepped in and sponsored a team of archeologists to move the temple. A four year project saw the temple cut into pieces of no more than 30 tons/piece, moved to a storage location, then returned to it’s new home on high ground above it’s original location. The original temple is amazing, the fact that it was moved is amazing and the fact that you can’t tell it was moved is even more amazing.
The front of the main temple
The inside of the main temple was filled with statues and amazing carvings.
The front of the second temple.
More amazing carvings, this time inside the second temple.
Driving back to Aswan we stopped on the High Dam. On one side of the road is the Nile River and on the other side is Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest artificial lakes.
On the dam there is a monument honouring Soviet-Egyptian friendship and co-operation.
When we arrived back in Aswan we checked into our floating hotel, the Sonesta Star Goddess. This is our home base for the next four days and our transportation to Luxor.
None of these boats are the one we are on, but it’s interesting to see how the boats raft together. You just walk through the lobby of whatever boats are between you and the shore.
This evening we returned to Philea Temple Complex for a sound and light show. The show told about some of the myths that surround then temple and the about the more recent history of the temple complex being flooded when the Aswan dam was built and the subsequent moving of the complex. The show was really good.
A couple of shots with the lights on the buildings.
A quick history on Abu Simbel. The Great Temple of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor combine to make up the Temples Abu Simbel. The temples were carved out of the mountain on the west bank of the Nile between 1274 and 1244 BC under the direction of Ramses II. The main temple is dedicated to the deified Ramses II himself as to Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah (gods). The lesser temple is in honour of Ramses II’s favourite wife (Nefertari). Over the centuries both the Nile and the desert sands shifted and the temple was lost to the world until 1813 when it was rediscovered by chance by a Swiss explorer. In the 1960’s the ruler of Egypt decided that it was necessary to build a dam on the Nile River. The resulting lake would flood this temple and it would be lost possibly forever. Unesco stepped in and sponsored a team of archeologists to move the temple. A four year project saw the temple cut into pieces of no more than 30 tons/piece, moved to a storage location, then returned to it’s new home on high ground above it’s original location. The original temple is amazing, the fact that it was moved is amazing and the fact that you can’t tell it was moved is even more amazing.
The front of the main temple
The inside of the main temple was filled with statues and amazing carvings.
The front of the second temple.
More amazing carvings, this time inside the second temple.
Driving back to Aswan we stopped on the High Dam. On one side of the road is the Nile River and on the other side is Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest artificial lakes.
On the dam there is a monument honouring Soviet-Egyptian friendship and co-operation.
When we arrived back in Aswan we checked into our floating hotel, the Sonesta Star Goddess. This is our home base for the next four days and our transportation to Luxor.
None of these boats are the one we are on, but it’s interesting to see how the boats raft together. You just walk through the lobby of whatever boats are between you and the shore.
This evening we returned to Philea Temple Complex for a sound and light show. The show told about some of the myths that surround then temple and the about the more recent history of the temple complex being flooded when the Aswan dam was built and the subsequent moving of the complex. The show was really good.
A couple of shots with the lights on the buildings.