We were up by 3:45AM and ready to go with our suitcases at 4:30AM. March, Nick, Lizette, and Armando were ready too. We were off together to Abu Simbel. Mustafa was our guide that day.. Matt and Lindsay would follow our tracks tomorrow.
The 3 hour ride through the desert to Abu Simbel was uneventful. The roads were good and a few of us were able to sleep for a couple of hours. We arrived at Abu Simbel around 8:30 and we sat in front of the temple with Mustafa for about 1/2 hr while he explained what we would see. As a guide he wasn’t allowed to join us.
The temple was a message from Ramses II to the people from the south who were coming down the river. Essentially, I’m big and I’m powerful. Don’t mess with me. (Note: the Nile River flows south to north. Upper Egypt is the southern part of Egypt. It is called upper Egypt because it nearest to the head of the Nile, a little counterintuitive for North Americans).
Construction of the temple complex started in approximately 1264 BC and lasted for about 20 years until 1244 BC. Ramesses reigned for 67 years, dying at an amazingly old age for the time of 92.
Inside the temple the images show Rameses transitioning from a pharaoh to a god. One of the depictions shows Ramesses the man making an offering to Ramesses the god. There were many scenes of him succeeding in battle.
I didn’t take any pictures of the temple interior, but here’s the exterior.
If you look closely you would see that the four Ramesses in front are aging so the one on the left is youngest Rameses and the one on the right is the oldest Ramesses, representing a thirty year time span to build the temple.
Ramesses also built a temple for Nefertari, his favorite wife. One of the significant things about this temple is that her statue is the same size as his, showing her to be his equal.
Heres a picture.
The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 on to an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid having them be submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser. After visiting the temples we went to the visitor center and watched a video on moving the temple.
Our visit to the temple was a real highlight of the trip. Having seen pictures of Abu Simbel previously it was really breathtaking to see it in person and experience it. And to think, it has been around for over 3,000 years and Rameses, himself, must have been there to witness its creation.
We returned to the van and drove back to Aswan. Mustafa wasn’t feeling well and slept the whole way back. Mustafa was supposed to guide us for the next two days but decided that he wasn’t feeling well enough, so we requested Mona again and luckily she was available. Yippee!
Upon returning to Aswan we were delivered to our hotel. We are staying at the Movenpick which is on Elephantine Island. We have to take a 5 min boat ride across a part of the Nile to get to the hotel. It’s a nice retreat in the middle of the city! Lizette and Armando were staying at the Movenpick too.
After getting settled briefly we headed out to meet Matt and Lindsay at the Old Cataract Hotel. They are staying at a Nubian guest house and just wanted to have tea at the Old Cataract hotel. The Old Cataract Hotel is very exclusive. Somehow they got in and were holding a table on the deck for us. Security at the front gate didn’t believe that we were meeting friends and escorted us in to make sure. Only guests of the hotel are allowed to eat dinner there but Matt and Lindsay had befriended a guest while they were waiting for us. She pulled some strings and got us a table. So we managed to have dinner at the Old Cataract Hotel. It was very good.
We said goodbye to Matt and Lindsay and then to Lizette and Armando and returned to our hotel via the shuttle boat.