Aswan & Abu Simbel

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After a 15 hour train journey, I arrived in Aswan and was immediately struck by the picturesque setting of the city on the easten bank of the Nile, with the hills of the Sahara dominating the western bank. After dropping off our bags we headed out to Philae Temple, which is located on an island in the Aswan Dam. This entire temple had been moved piece by massive piece onto this island from its original location due to the creation of the dam, which would have left this and many other temples submerged forever if it weren't for the help of UNESCO. Philae Temple actually translates to something along the lines of Love Temple, which was quite apt considering its romantic setting. The bas-reliefs upon the inner-most temple walls are in magnificent condition and held me captivated for some time. The depictions of the animal headed gods upon the outer walls have all had their faces chipped away, as certain invaders didn't want to acknowledge the Egyptian gods. Fortunately, they never got to the inner chambers. When the Christians arrived in Egypt, they sought refuge in many of the temples that were no longer in use, which makes for some incongruous additions to some of them. For example, inside Philae Temple a Coptic altar can be seen, marked with a Coptic Cross, which also adorn some of the enormous pillars, in between the hieroglyphs. What I found interesting about this temple was that it was built during the Graeco-Roman period, yet it is quite clearly built for the Egyptian pantheon and depicts the Graeco-Roman rulers in Egyptian dress, demonstrating that they adopted the beliefs of the country, rather than attempting to impose their own. In a way, Egypt actually conquered the conquerers, as the invaders ended up adopting the rituals, lifestyle and beliefs of the populace.

At dusk we set out on a felucca for an hour or so, letting the wind and current carry us along the Nile as the sun set over the Sahara. We could clearly see the tombs of the nobles which had been cut into the cliffs of the west bank, whilst the lights of Aswan began to shimmer more brightly as the first stars began to reveal themselves. The Ancient Egyptians always had their funerary complexes located on the west bank of the Nile, as this is where the sun sets and darkness takes ahold. In contrast, their cities were always built upon the eastern shores, as it is in this direction where the sun rises and brings life to the world.

The following day, we set off at 4:30am for the three hour drive to Abu Simbel. I have long dreamt of seeing the colossal figures of Ramses II which form the facade of this incredible temple, which was built purely to demonstrate his power and intimidate anyone sailing down the Nile into his lands. Whilst the temple is a sight to behold, it's the design of its inner chambers which I found really interesting. After the temple was completed, on 21 February and 21 October every year the sunlight would creep through the entrance and gradually illuminate the central corridor until it reached the innermost chamber, which housed four statues carved out of the rock wall at the rear. Three of the statues depict gods, whilst the other is of Ramses II. On these specific dates, the figure of Ramses II would be illuminated by the light of the sun. These dates correspond with the birthday and coronation day of Ramses II, which I find an incredible architectural achievement. To make this even more impressive, when the temple had to be moved and reconstructed at a new site for the creation of Lake Nasser, they were unable to get the sunlight to shine down the corridor on the correct day (it is now a day later), and this is with the advantage of over 3,000 years of development in technology and 'intelligence' since its initial construction! There were some truly remarkable minds at work during the time of the Ancient Egyptians and I am eagerly looking forward to learning more about these incredible people in the days ahead.

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