Abu Simbel. Temple in Egypt, built by Ramses 2

In order not to get lost among the sea offers from various travel agencies, most people try to independently learn about the sights of Egypt. Now in specialized publications you can find any information about this country and reviews of other tourists. One of the landmark places of the country is the temple of Abu Simbel. But not everyone knows about it. Of course, because there are more popular attractions than Abu Simbel. Egypt is primarily known for the pyramids of Giza and the statue of the Sphinx. But just before this temple on February 22 and October 22, more than 5 thousand tourists gather.

What attracts them there?

Abu Simbel on the map is a small town, lost among the sand of Nubia in northern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. His temples, carved into a rock, stand on the western shore of Lake Nasser. The majestic ensemble was erected in 1244 BC. In honor of the victory of Ramses 2 over the Hittites. More precisely, there are two temples here. The big one is dedicated to the pharaoh and the three gods, and the small one is to the goddess Hathor and the beloved wife of Ramses, the beautiful Nefertari.

In general, during the reign of Ramesses 2, five cave temples were erected, but Abu Simbel is by right considered the most majestic of them. Despite the fact that these temples are dedicated to the three gods who patronized the armies of the pharaoh, in fact they glorified Ramses 2, who ruled 67 years in Egypt. During this time, he conquered 11 countries. His mummy is kept in the Cairo Museum.

Features of the structure and location

The entrance to the Great Temple looks to the east. The facade is decorated with four twenty-meter statues of the pharaoh, who sits majestically on the throne. Archaeologists are still surprised by the portrait resemblance and the ideal proportions of sculptures. And all the statues are the same, only one had a head broken during the earthquake. At the feet of the pharaoh - sculptures of wives and children, and above the entrance to the temple depicts the god Ra.

Halls

Temple of Ramses 2 consists of four rectangular rooms, which are successively reduced. The first room is the most spacious. Its high arch supports tetrahedral columns, and the walls are covered with texts and colored reliefs. In it are statues of the pharaoh in the guise of the god Osiris. This room was open to all comers. In the second, only the "noble" could enter. The third room, which is even smaller than the previous one, was available only to the priests. Only Pharaoh and his family could enter the fourth room. It was there that statues of the gods of Harmakis, Amon-Ra and Ptah settled with ruler's faces. Everything in the temple speaks of the power and wealth of Ramses 2: the walls of each room are decorated with amazing reliefs, telling of the military actions and his life. And the sun and cobra depicted on the ceiling symbolize the power of the state and just punishment for those guilty before Pharaoh.

But after a few centuries the colors faded, and Abu Simbel himself almost completely absorbed the sands of the Sahara. And only at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when studying the temple of Hathor, a scientist from Switzerland noticed fragments of figures, and after extensive excavations for several years the temple of Ramses 2 was cleared of sand.

Most part of the year in its halls is dominated by a penumbra, and only in the days of the spring and autumn equinox, which coincide with the dates of birth and coronation of the pharaoh, you can witness a magnificent spectacle. To see it, crowds of tourists are flooding Egypt these days. At exactly 5 hours and 58 minutes, the rising sunlight penetrates the temple and begins its leisurely journey through its halls. At the end of its path, the beam slides on Amon-Ra's shoulder and Ramses's face 2, lingering for a few minutes. They say that at that moment the pharaoh begins to smile.

Then, moving to the statue of Harmakis, the sunlight leaves the Great Temple, and without touching the statue of Ptah, the lord of the underworld, which he does not need. Of course, here there is no mysticism, but only a very accurate calculation of Egyptian astrologers and priests.

An interesting riddle of the temple

But there was another mystery in the temple that was forgotten in the course of time. Every morning at dawn, there were moans and quiet crying. For a long time no one could explain this phenomenon, but the scientists managed to uncover the secret. It's all in the cracks in the building, or rather in the air temperature. At sunrise, it increased, cracks widened and began to emit these sounds. When they were closed, the groan stopped.

Small temple of Abu Simbel: features of a structure

At 100 meters from the Great Temple is the Small Temple of Abu Simbel. It is dedicated to the ancient Egyptian goddess of love Hathor, to whom the features of Nefertari, the elder and beloved wife of the pharaoh , were transferred . She was written about as a beautiful and intelligent woman. Only she in the history of Ancient Egypt has received such an honor. The small church looks much more modest and consists of one hall and sanctuary. On its facade in the niches are statues of Ramses 2 and Nefertari. Skillfully created game of light gives them a special mystery. In the sanctuary there is a sculpture of the goddess Hathor in the form of a sacred cow, and before her - the image of the pharaoh.

The Abu Simbel complex was on the Nile bend, which was a very important strategic moment. The statues of the pharaoh could be seen from afar, embodying the strength and power of the country. Especially spectacular, they looked in the morning, when the rays of the rising sun painted them in a blood-red color.

Restructuring

In the 60 years of the last century, a new danger loomed over the temple. The lake on whose bank it is located could completely flood it, and all because of the construction of the Aswan dam on the Nile. Many projects have been put forward to save the cultural heritage site. They even suggested building an underwater glass dome over the temples. But a unique decision was made - to dismantle the building into blocks and move it to a higher place. Specialists from fifty countries took part in the operation. It was spent more than 42 million dollars. For four years, this landmark sawed into individual fragments weighing from 3 to 20 tons, which were numbered and transported to an artificial mound.

There they were drilled and filled with resinous composition, which was supposed to strengthen the stone. A total of more than a thousand blocks. The newly assembled temples were covered with a reinforced concrete cover, and a stone hill was built on top of it, which should mimic the rocks. But it was done so neatly, it seemed, the temples stood here for centuries. And the head of one of the statues that was split once was also moved and placed very precisely at the foot of the temple.

Study of the structure

Thanks to these works Abu Simbel was thoroughly studied by archaeologists and experts from UNESCO, who were struck by the art of ancient architects. Having carefully studied the foundation of the building, the specialists were surprised to find that the facade lines are parallel to the cracks in the rock, this made the temple stable, and the rock rocks served as a natural support for the huge statues.

Iron oxide, used to strengthen sandstone layers, in addition to its main purpose, gave the stone a variety of bright colors - from lilac to red and even pink. As a result of this operation, the complex was moved 200 m further and 65 m above the lake level, and the flooding was no longer threatened.

A small conclusion

September 22 Abu Simbel - a temple in Egypt - again welcomes tourists. The cultural heritage was preserved for the descendants and became one of the visiting cards of the tourist Egypt.