Abu
Simbel
To see our other stops in
Egypt click on:
Giza and Cairo, Nile, Luxor east, Luxor
west, Esna,
Edfu, Kom
Ombo, Aswan,
Abu
Simbel, Hurghada,
Memphis, People, Flowers, birds, and bugs
Some
of the artwork in the Aswan airport.
The hippo is the goddess
of
fertility.
Some scenes from the
flight.
The first two are
irrigation canals
leading from Lake Nasser.
The "pyramids" we saw as
we landed
are actually natural hills.
A mosaic at the Abu
Simbel airport.
Our first sight of the
monument to
Ramesses II.
These statues were
carved into the
side of a mountain.
When they were to be
flooded by the
construction of the Aswan High dam they were cut free from the mountain
and raised above the lake.
The face of each of the
statues were
some of the largest pieces weighing about 30 tons.
I hope you can get some
idea of the
size from the people in the pictures.
The statues are more than 65 ft tall.
A second set of statues
at the site guards the entrance to a temple dedicated to Ramesses wife Nefertari. (Thanks Rod)
Inscriptions that were
also moved to
be saved from inundation.
Looking into the main
entrance.
The next chamber is
decorated with
images of Ramesses II and various gods.
We had a hieroglyphic to
English
dictionary so we tried to translate some of what was recorded.
From our translation and
what we were
told the hieroglyphics describe his life and his close association with
the gods.
Some of the side
chambers.
We didn't measure them
but the
largest was about 15 by 60 ft and others about 10 by 50 ft.
They had been carved in
the mountain
so they had to be cut from it and moved to the new site when they were
threatened with flooding.
Seams where they had
been cut and
reassembled were barely visible.
In one of the chambers
the carvings
were unfinished and you could see the more than 3000 year old charcoal
sketches of the original sculptors.
There were few visitors
when we were
there so we could have a chamber to ourselves to try to get a feeling
what it must have been like all those years ago.
Behind the monument you
can see the
modern construction that protects it from the elements.
To see our other stops in
Egypt click on:
Giza and Cairo, Nile, Luxor east, Luxor
west, Esna,
Edfu, Kom
Ombo, Aswan,
Abu
Simbel, Hurghada,
Memphis, People, Flowers, birds, and bugs
Thanks
to many friends on the trip for sharing their photos with us and with
you.
Jerry and Carmen, Jeannie and Bill, Kathy and Howard, Jim and Lilly,
Randy and Trena, and Hoy and Nancy thanks again.
See
other places we have visited here.
Go
to our Personal
home page
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page
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to our Science
Fun page
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and
Alan