The Abu Simbel Temples in Egypt

Hello readers, we all very well know about Egypt and its mind-blowing architecture and design, but do we know about its temples and how they connect their skills and the religious shrines they have? So, today we are going to talk about one of the most detailed and attractive rock-cut temples in a village known as Abu Simbel in Egypt.

Abu Simbel, the village, a historic site that consists of two rock-cut temples, is in Aswan Governorate which is in Southern Egypt near Sudan. It is on the western bank of Lake Nasser. The Abu Simbel temples are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site that is known as the “Nubian Monuments”.

Now, let’s talk more about its history and how it was constructed. Built during the reign of Ramesses II, he embarked on an extensive building program throughout Egypt and Nubia. Nubia (a region controlled by Egypt), a region along the Nile river, was vital for the Egyptians as it was a huge source of gold and other precious goods. Ramesses II thus, built grand temples there to impress upon the Nubians Egypt’s might and Egyptianize the people of Nubia. There are two temples, that are the Great Temple and the Small Temple. The Great Temple was dedicated to Ramesses II while the Small Temple was dedicated to his chief queen, Queen Nefertari.

The temples over time fell into disuse and eventually went into oblivion as they were largely covered by a sand dune. They were hidden and forgotten until the year March 1813, when Swiss researcher Johann Ludwig Burckhardt first discovered the Small Temple.

In the year 1967, the Great Temple of Abu Simbel was moved from Nubia to a place 65 meters higher and 200 meters back from the river to save it from flooding by the Nile.

Let’s now touch upon the detailed architecture of the temples. Starting with the Great Temple, it took around twenty years to build during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. It is considered one of the grandest and most beautiful temples in Egypt. The entrance is flanked by four colossal statues that represent Ramesses II seated on a throne wearing the double crown. The statue to the left of the entrance was unfortunately damaged in an earthquake, causing the head and torso to fall away. However, they were not restored on the statue during the temple’s relocation but were instead placed at the statue’s feet in the positions originally found. There are other smaller statues beside the large one and they were of the kings’ chief queen, her mother, his first two sons and six daughters. The interior of the temple is triangular shaped which is similar to other ancient Egyptian temples. There are number of halls in the inner part of the temple with beautiful scenes of offerings to the gods and many other works of art.

It is also believed that the Egyptian architects positioned the axis of the temple in such a way that on the 22nd day of every October and February (which are believed to be the king’s birthday and coronation days), the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall. However, a statue of Ptah always remained in the dark as it was a god connected with the realm of the dead.

Lastly, the Small Temple, located northeast of the Grand Temple, was surprisingly the second time in ancient Egyptian history (a temple) dedicated to a queen.

The rock-cut façade is decorated with two statues that are of the king and his queen. The temple is supported by six pillars that show scenes of the queen playing the sistrum that was an instrument sacred to a goddess, named Goddess Hathor.

So, this was all about the Abu Simbel Temples in Egypt that were built by Ramesses II. Hope you liked this blog as much as I loved putting it together.

Leaving you with a beautiful quote by Abhijit Naskar: “I dream of a planet where the science of the mind, brings the Bible, the Vedas, the Quran, and all other scriptures together and binds them with the golden twine of harmony.”.

Credits

Wikipedia for source of information.