Egypt IV - Abu Simbel

Built by Ramses II during his 67 years reign, it only gained its fame in the 1960s when UNESCO and the few powerhouses around the world decided to undergo major relocation of the temple.

Abu Simbel is located 40km north of Sudan, and 270km from Aswan, the city in the most Southern part of Egypt. Ramses II built Abu Simbel primarily to show off his awe to Egypt's African Southern counterparts after successfully deterring them from invading Egypt. However, the sweetest thing I like about this narcissist Pharoah was his love for his wife. He had 47 wives and 111 children in total, but he had only one love of his life, Nefetari! He is the only Pharoah in ancient Egyptian history to have built a temple for his wife.

So I suppose he wanted to be with Nefetari and only Nefetari in his after-life and eternally. :))

What exactly is the catch of Abu Simbel then?

1) It has two temples, one for the King and the other for the Queen, which is one of a kind in Egypt.

2) On 2 days of the year, 20th February and 20th October, for 2 minutes, the Sun will shine right into the temple and onto Ramses II's face and lit up Ramses II's statue. Why these 2 days?

Bingo, it's the birthday and coronation day of the Pharoah! :)

3) It used to be completely buried under the sand and not so soon after the archaeologists discover it, the temple faced the risk of being submerged in Lake Nassau, an artificial lake that was about to be formed by the construction of the Aswan High Dam back then. So UNESCO stepped in and with more modernized equipments and technology, they decided to cut the temples up in blocks and pieces so as to shift the temple 210m and 70m up and away. :)

4) Ramses II placed himself on the same status quo in the temple, he was worshipped as per the likes of other ancient Egyptian Gods like Amon, Goddess of Earth (think it's Hathor), God of darkness (can't rmb the name). The only Pharoah to be worshipped like a GOD. Maybe he's really GOD-LIKE (at least to himself).

That ends the "A story a day from Egypt".

Mirage on our way back! You can see the reflections of the sand dunes as though there's a lake in the desert but it is merely an optical illusion caused by atmospheric conditions.

Artificial Lake - Lake Nassau: Beware of CROCODILES! They used to reside in the Nile but the Aswan High Dam deterred their entry into River Nile due to uneven water levels and barricades I think.

Abu Simbel - Temple for Ramses II (left) & Temple for Nefetari (right)

That's Nefetari, wife of Ramses II, at the foot of his statue.

Abu Simbel

Lake Nassau again!