Page 164 - DK Eyewitness Travel Guides - The World's Must-See Places

AFRICA Abu Simbel

Hewn out of a solid cliff in the 13th century BC, the Great
MEDIT£11/IANEAN SEA
Temple of Abu Simbel and the smaller Temple of Hathor are
a breathtaking sight. Although dedicated to the patron deities
of Egypt's great cities- Amun of Thebes, Ptah of Memphis,
SAUDI
ARABIA
and Ra-Harakhty of Heliopolis-the Great T emple was built
EGYPT
1.18YA lU:lO:Jre RED to honor Ramses II. Its 108-ft (33-m) high fa~ade, with four
SEA
colossal enthroned statues of Ramses II wearing the double
crown of Upper and L ower Egypt, was intended to impress and
Carved baboon
frighten, while the interior revealed the union of gods and king. on the Great Temple

A NEW L OCATION TEMPLE OF HATH OR
When the Aswan Dam proved too small to Dedicated to the goddess Hathor, ~ Baboons
The fa<;ade is topped by
control the floodwaters of the Nile Rive r, the deity of love, pleasure, and a frieze of 22 baboons,
Egyptian government built the High Dam and beauty, the smaller temple at their arms raised,
Abu Simbel was built by Ramses 11
created Lake Nas ser as a reservoir. But the ris ing supposedly worshiping
to honor his favorite wife,
waters of the lake threatened to submerge Abu Nefertari. The temple's hypostyle the ris ing S un.
S i mbe l. Con cern that the temples might be lost hall has H a thor-headed p II I ars and
is decorated with scenes or Ramses
led UNESCO to back an international re lief
slaying Egypt's enemies, with
program, and 1n 1964 an ambitious four-year
Nefertari looking on. The vestibule
operat1on began, to move the two monuments shows the royal <ouple making
to safety lhe temples, complete wrth the1r offerings to the gods.
arb facts, were cut into 950 blocks and trais- Temple of Hathor
ferred to a higher site against the backdrop of
an artif1c1 al mountain (relocated temples).

THE GREAT STATUES Statue of
T hree of the four 65-ft (20-m) high statues- Ra-Harakhty
the Ramses II Colossi-gaze southward
to deter even the most determined of the
pharaoh's enemies. Their enormous SIZe IS
thought to represent Ramses' divinity as a
s~reme god The gods and Ramses' family
feattSe prominently among the other statues -< Ramses II Colossi ____ ..;_ ___ .:..._ _ _ ---+,_
At the feet of the colossi stG~Jd figures of the
Accompanied by carved
pharaoh's mother, his wife, Queen Ne fertari, images of captives from the
and the royal children. Above the entrance to ~~~~iii north and south, the four
the G reat T emple is the falcon-headed statue ~ colossi on the fao;ade boast
of a unified Egypt Ramses'
of the S un god Ra-Harakhty. Hapi, the god name adorns the thrones in
of the Nile flood, who is associated with cartouche form.
fertility, is featured holding lotus and papyrus,
symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt respect1 vely
Broken Colossus
WRJnNG ON THE WALL The second statue on
Graphic wall paintings and reliefs found 1n the the left lost its head in
an earthquake in 27 BC.
Great Temple of Abu Simbe l and the T emple
of Hath or glorify Ramses II as a div1ne ruler.
They te ll of his victories and show him fighting
his enemies. In the Tern pie of H ather, Ne fertari' s
consecration as divine queen is illus trated.
Statues of royal
S urrounding the paintings and reliefs are family members
detailed rows of hieroglyphs. This pictorial
script thought to have developed around
3200 BC.1s the world's oldest known form of
writ1ng The word "hieroglyph" means "sacred IOil Great Temple Fa~ade
carved letter" and a complex system of 6,000 Buried in sand fcr centuries,
this fao;ade was discCNered in
symbols was used by the andent Egyptians to
1813 by the Swiss explcrer
wnte the1r names and express their rehg1 ous Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
belie fs. S tones of the lives o f Ramses and Entran<e to Great
Ne fertari have been engraved in this way Temple
on the walls of Abu Simbel.