EGYPT'S ABU SIMBAL TEMPLE

[curtiejoe]

Ramses II , Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, built his magnificent temple in ancient times to commemorate two special days:nis birthday and the day of his rise to the throne of the fertile land on the shores of the Nile. He ordered his royal architects and chief builders, to construct the amazing temple in just such a way that on those two days of the year so special to him, and only on those days and no others, thesun would flood the inner sanctum with light and illuminate his golden statue! This year, on February 22, crowds of eager and curious visitors will throng into the Abu Simbal temple before sunrise to watch in awe as golden shafts of sunshine creep slowly into the centeral section where statues of Ramses, as well as the gods Amun and Ra stand in wait. Click on www.egypt.travelfor more information.



curtiejoe

[jashermd]

Hi Curtiejoe,

One of the things I find most amazing about this temple is its narrow escape from complete oblivion. It was rescued by UNESCO when its original site was drowned by Lake Nasser following the completion of the Aswan dam. The entire thing was cut into chunks, relocated, and reassembled at a new site above the rising lake waters, which was carefully designed so that the lighting of the interior still worked.

Here's a web site with some additional information about the rescue of the Abu Simbel Temple:

http://www.completegypt.com/abusimble.html

Cheers,
Julian

[claassenam]

My husband and I really regret not making it down to the temple when we were in Egypt. There are plenty of tour companies who can arrange a day trip from Aswan - a very early flight down, a few hours tour of the site, and then back up to Aswan in time for dinner. We watched a UNESCO documentary during our Nile Cruise about the move of Abu Simbel and the other temples throughout the are that were moved when Lake Nasser was created - it was a fascinating process. The chunks of temple that were cut were enormous! The process, being as it was in the middle of the desert apart from civilization and with some but not much machinery, must have been similar to the building of the pyramids. Although the temple restoration was more like putting together an enormous puzzle, as each piece had to be perfectly placed in the exact same spot.

Everyone I've met who has been to Abu Simbel rave about the trip and the temple. Apparently it is the most awe-inspiring of all of the Egyptian temples, and that is saying a lot!

[jashermd]

Hello,

I've also seen the documentary on the moving of the temple -- amazing. When I heard about the flooding of the Three Gorges in China I was hoping something similar would be done to save some of the temples there, but no such luck.

Normally I avoid any place during days when it's guaranteed to be crawling with hordes of tourists, but seeing the sun come into Abu Simbel sounds sufficiently special to make it worth and exception. February's not a bad time to be in Egypt either -- the weather is quite good and the general tourist level is pretty low, though I suspect there are likely to be crowds at Abu Simbel. What's simply amazing is how the ancient Egyptians worked out the maths needed to make the temple light up on those two specific days.

Cheers,
Julian

[curtiejoe]

Hi Julian



I do remeber seeing newsclips at the time the Aswan Dam was completed (in the 1960s I believe) by the Egyptians with help from the Soviet Union, and Lake Nasser started to form. There was a lot of concern about the flooding of ancient monuments and several newsclips about the moving of the Abu Simbal temple out of harms way. You are quite right about it being '**bleep** and tuck' to rescue the structure stone by stone as the flood waters rose ever so slowly but inexorably over many ancient artifacts (that are now submerged forever). Thanx for the website link. Very informative.



curtiejoe

[curtiejoe]

hi claasenam



Rebuilding a massive stone structure like the Abu Simbel temple must indeed have been almost as colossal a task as the building of a pyramid in Ancient Egypt. Despite the fact that moderm tools and sophisticated technology was used in the reconstruction, it was still an enormously complex and time-consuming undertaking. Makes one stand in awe of the accomplishments of ancient civilizations who managed incredible feats without such tools available to them. As you point out, the temple today is still one of the most awe-inspiring in Egypt today.



curtiejoe

[kyshel]

I will never forget the view from the plane--Abu Simbel, glowing in the early morning sun. The pilot went around twice and dipped each way for passengers to get a glimpse before his final approach. Outstanding!! I could go back there over and over--the marvel of deconstruction and rebuilding such a fantastic temple is just that--a wonder in itself! I really wished I'd bought the video.
The temple of Philae was also rescued from inevitable doom in a similar way--moved to a higher island in the river, before the artificial inundation from the new dam.

Message Edited by kyshel on 05-10-2008 05:21 AM