Old picture when Temple was on the banks of the river Nile Copyright "Ahl Masr Zaman" |
The Abu Simbel temples are two
massive rock temples at Abu Simbel, a village in Nubia, southern Egypt, near
the border with Sudan. They 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 (near Aswan). 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.
Construction of the temple complex
started in approximately 1264 BC and lasted for about 20 years, until 1244 BC.
Known as the "Temple of Ramesses, beloved by Amun" it was one of six
rock temples erected in Nubia during the long reign of Ramesses II. Their
purpose was to impress Egypt's southern neighbours, and also to reinforce the
status of Egyptian religion in the region.
Rediscovery
1885 PICTURE OF Abou Simbel partially covered by sand |
The collapsed colossus of the
Great Temple supposedly fell during an earthquake shortly after its
construction. On moving the temple, it was decided to leave it as the face is
missing.
In 1959, an international
donations campaign to save the monuments of Nubia began: the southernmost
relics of this ancient human civilization were under threat from the rising
waters of the Nile that were about to result from the construction of the Aswan
High Dam.
One scheme to save the temples was
based on an idea by William MacQuitty to build a clear fresh water dam around
the temples, with the water inside kept at the same height as the Nile. There
were to be underwater viewing chambers. In 1962 the idea was made into a
proposal by architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry and civil engineer Ove Arup.
They considered that raising the temples ignored the effect of erosion of the
sandstone by desert winds. However the proposal, though acknowledged to be
extremely elegant, was rejected.
One of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history.
One of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history.
RECONSTRUCTION |
The complex consists of two
temples. The larger one is dedicated to Ra-Harakhty, Ptah and Amun, Egypt's
three state deities of the time, and features four large statues of Ramesses II
in the facade. The smaller temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor,
personified by Nefertari, Ramesses's most beloved of his many wives. The temple
is now open to the public.
The Great Temple at Abu Simbel,
which took about twenty years to build, was completed around year 24 of the
reign of Ramesses the Great (which corresponds to 1265 BC). It was dedicated to
the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah, as well as to the deified Rameses
himself. It is generally considered the grandest and most beautiful of the
temples commissioned during the reign of Rameses II, and one of the most
beautiful in Egypt.
Four colossal 20 meter statues of
the pharaoh with the double Atef crown of Upper and Lower Egypt decorate the
facade of the temple, which is 35 meters wide and is topped by a frieze with 22
baboons, worshippers of the sun and flank the entrance. The colossal statues
were sculpted directly from the rock in which the temple was located before it
was moved. All statues represent Ramesses II, seated on a throne and wearing the
double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The statue to the left of the entrance
was damaged in an earthquake, leaving only the lower part of the statue still
intact. The head and torso can still be seen at the statue's feet.
The entrance itself is crowned by
a bas-relief representing two images of the king worshipping the falcon-headed
Ra Harakhti, whose statue stands in a large niche. This god is holding the
hieroglyph "user" and a feather in his right hand, with Ma'at, (the
goddess of truth and justice) in his left; this is nothing less than a gigantic
cryptogram for Ramesses II's throne name, User-Maat-Re. The facade is topped by
a row of 22 baboons, their arms raised in the air, supposedly worshipping the
rising sun. Another notable feature of the facade is a stele which records the
marriage of Ramesses with a daughter of king Hattusili III, which sealed the
peace between Egypt and the Hittites.
INTERIOR OF TEMPLE |
From the hypostyle hall, one
enters the second pillared hall, which has four pillars decorated with
beautiful scenes of offerings to the gods. There are depictions of Ramesses and
Nefertari with the sacred boats of Amun and Ra-Harakhti. This hall gives access
to a transverse vestibule in the middle of which is the entrance to the
sanctuary. Here, on a black wall, are rock cut sculptures of four seated
figures: Ra-Horakhty, the deified king Ramesses, and the gods Amun Ra and Ptah.
Ra-Horakhty, Amun Ra and Ptah were the main divinities in that period and their
cult centers were at Heliopolis, Thebes and Memphis respectively.
Reconstructed temples on lake Nasser 65 meters above the original site to the right Hator temple and to the left Ramesses temple |
Solar alignment
It is believed that the axis of
the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that
on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the
sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall, except for the statue
of Ptah, a god connected with the Underworld, who always remained in the dark.
People gather at Abu Simbel to witness this remarkable sight, on October 21 and
February 21.
SUN ILLUMINATION |
Due to the displacement of the
temple and/or the accumulated drift of the Tropic of Cancer during the past
3,280 years, it is widely believed that each of these two events has moved one
day closer to the Solstice, so they would be occurring on October 22 and
February 20 (60 days before and 60 days after the Solstice, respectively).
Greek Graffito
A well-known graffito inscribed in
Greek on the left leg of the colossal seated statue of Ramesses II, on the
south side of the entrance to the temple records that:
"When King Psammetichus
(i.e., Psamtik II) came to Elephantine, this was written by those who sailed
with Psammetichus the son of Theocles, and they came beyond Kerkis as far as
the river permits. Those who spoke foreign tongues (Greek and Carians who also
scratched their names on the monument) were led by Potasimto, the Egyptians by
Amasis".
Kerkis was located near the Fifth
Cataract of the Nile "which stood well within the Cushite Kingdom."
HATOR TEMPLE |
The gods Set (left) and Horus
(right) blessing Ramesses in the small
temple at Abu Simbel
Remarkably, this is one of very
few instances in Egyptian art where the statues of the king and his consort
have equal size. Traditionally, the statues of the queens stood next to those
of the pharaoh, but were never taller than his knees. Ramesses went to Abu
Simbel with his wife in the 24th year of his reign. As the Great Temple of the
king, there are small statues of princes and princesses next to their parents.
In this case they are positioned symmetrically: on the south side (at left as
one faces the gateway) are, from left to right, princes Meryatum and Meryre,
princesses Meritamen and Henuttawy, and princes Rahirwenemef and
Amun-her-khepeshef, while on the north side the same figures are in reverse
order. The plan of the Small Temple is a simplified version of that of the
Great Temple.
Nefertari offering sistrums to
seated goddess Hathor,
frieze inside the Small Temple
SET BLESSING RAMESSES (close-up) |
The rock cut sanctuary and the two
side chambers are connected to the transverse vestibule and are aligned with the
axis of the temple. The bas-reliefs on the side walls of the small sanctuary
represent scenes of offerings to various gods made either by the pharaoh or the
queen. On the back wall, which lies to the west along the axis of the temple,
there is a niche in which Hathor, as a divine cow, seems to be coming out of
the mountain: the goddess is depicted as the Mistress of the temple dedicated
to her and to queen Nefertari, who is intimately linked to the goddess.
BAS-RELIEF in TEMPLE |
Article and pictures compiled from different sources