Abu Simbel was built by Ramses II dedicated to the sun god, Re. It was designed for worship at dawn. A row of baboons is cut across the top of the temple. The baboons singing at dawn was thought that they were worshiping the sun. Four huge statues of the pharaoh each 65 feet high guard the entrance. The temple was designed to be intimidating, to warn any approaching army of the strength of the Pharaoh Ramses II. Only a few chosen priests were allowed inside the temples. Each day they entered the sanctuary and the high priest broke the clay seal on the doors of the shrine where the god's statue was kept. A ritual of prayers and bathing and dressing the statue was performed. It was then resealed in the sanctuary with an offering of food and drink. It was one of 14 temples that were moved due to the building of the high dam. The temple was originally cut 60 yards into the rock before it was dismantled and rebuilt in its’ current location. Before it was moved, the temple was aligned such that twice a year on Feb. 22 and Oct. 22 the first rays of the raising sun reach across the Nile, penetrate the temple and move along the hypostyle hall, through the vestibule and into the sanctuary, where they illuminate the figures of Ra-Horakhty, Ramses II and Amun. The dates are his birthday and anniversary which now the sun hits it right on the day before his birthday and anniversary because the elevation is higher. To move the temple it had to be cut into pieces weighing no more than 3 tons each. The faces were hollowed out to decrease the weight. A new mountain was made to move the temple to. It over looks Lake Nassar, the largest man-made lake in the world. Lake Nassar's origin is in the rain forest far to the south. The project cost 36 million dollars, including a separate dam which had to be built to protect it while it was being moved. There are many pyramid shaped hills surrounding the area.
1 comment:
I'm certainly enjoying reading these! :-) It sounds like you all had a very interesting time! Emily
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