Aug 88 - Temple of Ramesses II (New Kingdom, 13th cent. B.C.), Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt
(Continued from the photo of the 2 in the hospital). So I couldn't leave Aswan without visiting Abu Simbel, broken foot or no, signed up for this tour, left to drive south at @ 4 am by cab, hobbled @ at the site on crutches, and was stared at more than a bit. From Aswan it was a trick getting back to Cairo, navigating train stations and trains on those crutches with my backpack. Our cab was in a bad accident on the way back to Aswan, noone was hurt but the car was totaled and the driver was inconsolable. I stayed in the hospital in Cairo for a couple of days, got a second opinion (and a cast with my foot set extended at exactly the wrong angle I learned later, with my toe pointing down - ?), until I contacted the Cdn consul. (At the hospital I was bitten by a wild kitten I tried to pick up from under my bed, plenty of wild cats there, and the consul made me get a rabies shot). I flew back home via London and soon developed amoebic dysentery symptoms, and I got a letter from a Dutch friend who had to rush back to Holland shortly after I last saw her in Aswan for an emergency appendectomy. How's that for a string of bad luck? I have the crutches and a big scar on my foot as souvenirs, but my foot's good.
- This famous shrine in the far south of Egypt, only @ 40-50 clicks north of the Sudanese border as the crow flies, was dedicated to Ramesses II and was raised piece by piece by Unesco in the 60s to a plateau to escape a rising Lake Nasser when the Aswan dam was built. Ramesses reigned for 67 yr.s in the 19th dynasty of the 'New Kingdom' of the 13th cent. B.C.
www.google.com/maps/place/Abu+Simbel,+Aswan+Governorate,+...
- Lotsa photoshop with this one.
- "It took 20 yr.s to create [this] complex. ... The temples are dedicated to the gods Ra-Horakty, Ptah, and the deified Ramesses II ('The Great Temple' [this]) and the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari, Ramesses' favourite wife ('The Small Temple')."
- "Allegedly, the Swiss explorer Burckhardt was led to the site by a boy named Abu Simbel in 1813 and the site was then named after him. Burckhardt, however, was unable to uncover the site, which was buried in sand up to the necks of the grand colossi and later mentioned this experience to his friend and fellow explorer Giovanni Belzoni. [Read more re Belzoni below.] It was Belzoni who uncovered and first excavated (or looted) Abu Simbel in 1817 and it's considered likely that it was he, not Burckhardt, who was led to the site by the young boy and who named the complex after him."
- "The Great Temple stands 30 m.s high and 35 m.s long with 4 seated colossi flanking the entrance, 2 to each side, depicting Ramesses II on his throne; each one 20 m.s tall. Beneath these giant figures are smaller statues (still larger than life-sized) depicting Ramesses' conquered enemies, the Nubians, Libyans, and Hittites. Further statues represent his family members and various protecting gods and symbols of power. Passing between the colossi, through the central entrance, the interior of the temple is decorated with engravings showing Ramesses and Nefertari paying homage to the gods. Ramesses' great victory at Kadesh [in Syria, the battle against the Hittites] (considered by modern scholars to be more of a draw than an Egyptian triumph) is also depicted in detail across the north wall of the Hypostyle Hall. According to the scholars Oakes and Gahlin, these engravings of the events surrounding the battle "present a lively account in both reliefs and text. Preparations for battle are being made in the Egyptian camp. Horses are harnessed or given their fodder while one solder has his wounds dressed. The king's tent is also depicted while another scene shows a council of war between Ramesses and his officers. Two Hittite spies are captured and beaten until they reveal the true whereabouts of Muwatalli, the Hittite king. Finally, the two sides engage in battle, the Egyptians charging in neat formation while the Hittites are in confusion, chariots crashing, horses bolting and soldiers falling into the River Orontes. In the text, Ramesses takes on the whole of the Hittite army single-handed, apart from support rendered by [the god] Amun who defends him in battle and finally hands him the victory."
- "The location of the site was sacred to Hathor long before the temples were built there and, it is thought, was carefully chosen by Ramesses for this very reason. In both temples, Ramesses is recognized as a god among other gods and his choice of an already sacred locale would have strengthened this impression among the people. The temples are also aligned with the east so that, twice a year, on Feb. 21 and Oct. 21, the sun shines directly into the sanctuary of The Great Temple to illuminate the statues of Ramesses and Amun. The dates are thought to correspond to Ramesses' birthday and coronation. The alignment of sacred structures with the rising or setting sun, or with the position of the sun at the solstices, was common throughout the ancient world ... but the sanctuary of The Great Temple differs in that the statue of the god Ptah, who stands among the others, is carefully positioned so that it is never illuminated at any time. As Ptah was associated with the Egyptian underworld, his image was kept in perpetual darkness." www.worldhistory.org/Abu_Simbel/
- Again, this was first excavated and explored by the great Giovanni Battista Belzoni, hydrologist, pioneering Egyptologist, Herculean strongman, showman and adventurer, the closest anyone's come to a real Indiana Jones. www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/September-2018/Egyptology-s-...
- "[In 1816] Belzoni continued upstream with his party toward the temple of Abu Simbel, some 500 km.s south of Luxor, to investigate the remains of 4 20 m. seated statues of Ramses the Great. They found the temple’s grand entryway drowned in sand, and Belzoni realized that excavating there would be like “making a hole in water … an endless task.” Unless, that is, he could find a way to keep the sand from refilling the hole after every scoop. Deploying his knowledge of hydraulics, engineering and stagecraft, he calculated that the doorway “could not be less than 35' [10 m.s] below the surface of the sand,” and the front of the temple was likely proportionately “117' [36 m.s] wide.” (The top of the temple’s doorway is in fact about 2/3rds of the way down a 30-m.-high façade, and the temple is indeed 36 m.s wide.) With palm logs and locally hired labor, Belzoni drove a palisade into the sand in front of the temple. Then he wet the sand “close to the wall over the door” to stop the drifts from sifting back down into the hole. After exposing the face and shoulders of one statue, he had to interrupt the task to return to Luxor to load the bust of the Ramses statue onto a boat. He arranged for a local tribal leader to safeguard the site, sketched his progress and left “with a firm resolution of returning to accomplish its opening."
- "... In February 1817, ... Belzoni was eager to return to his interrupted excavation at Abu Simbel. It wasn’t until summer that Belzoni got his wish, and he and his crew excavated the front of the temple in temperatures topping 51 degrees Celsius. On July 31 they reached “the upper part of the door as evening approached [and] dug away enough sand to be able to enter,” he wrote. But Belzoni chose to wait until dawn, after he observed that the rising sun would pierce directly into the temple’s massive, east-facing doorway. As the first light for more than a thousand years illuminated the interior, the team “entered the finest and … most magnificent of temples … enriched with beautiful intaglios, painting, colossal figures,” Belzoni gushed." No gushing, he was just being descriptive and accurate.
- "... Although he and his team took little from the temple, they spent several days measuring, drawing and compiling a detailed record of the structure’s interior and exterior. “Taking measurements, drawing pictures - that is real archaeological documentation,” says Ryan, who often refers to Belzoni as a 'proto-archeologist.' The accuracy of Belzoni’s record-keeping ... remains useful to this day."
- Here's one of several doc.s re Belzoni online, 'The Great Belzoni: The Last Tomb Raider Of Ancient Egypt'.: youtu.be/LAm9Rcrh2-0?si=Sl8Zt2fUV0xEA0IU
Aug 88 - Temple of Ramesses II (New Kingdom, 13th cent. B.C.), Abu Simbel, Upper Egypt
(Continued from the photo of the 2 in the hospital). So I couldn't leave Aswan without visiting Abu Simbel, broken foot or no, signed up for this tour, left to drive south at @ 4 am by cab, hobbled @ at the site on crutches, and was stared at more than a bit. From Aswan it was a trick getting back to Cairo, navigating train stations and trains on those crutches with my backpack. Our cab was in a bad accident on the way back to Aswan, noone was hurt but the car was totaled and the driver was inconsolable. I stayed in the hospital in Cairo for a couple of days, got a second opinion (and a cast with my foot set extended at exactly the wrong angle I learned later, with my toe pointing down - ?), until I contacted the Cdn consul. (At the hospital I was bitten by a wild kitten I tried to pick up from under my bed, plenty of wild cats there, and the consul made me get a rabies shot). I flew back home via London and soon developed amoebic dysentery symptoms, and I got a letter from a Dutch friend who had to rush back to Holland shortly after I last saw her in Aswan for an emergency appendectomy. How's that for a string of bad luck? I have the crutches and a big scar on my foot as souvenirs, but my foot's good.
- This famous shrine in the far south of Egypt, only @ 40-50 clicks north of the Sudanese border as the crow flies, was dedicated to Ramesses II and was raised piece by piece by Unesco in the 60s to a plateau to escape a rising Lake Nasser when the Aswan dam was built. Ramesses reigned for 67 yr.s in the 19th dynasty of the 'New Kingdom' of the 13th cent. B.C.
www.google.com/maps/place/Abu+Simbel,+Aswan+Governorate,+...
- Lotsa photoshop with this one.
- "It took 20 yr.s to create [this] complex. ... The temples are dedicated to the gods Ra-Horakty, Ptah, and the deified Ramesses II ('The Great Temple' [this]) and the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari, Ramesses' favourite wife ('The Small Temple')."
- "Allegedly, the Swiss explorer Burckhardt was led to the site by a boy named Abu Simbel in 1813 and the site was then named after him. Burckhardt, however, was unable to uncover the site, which was buried in sand up to the necks of the grand colossi and later mentioned this experience to his friend and fellow explorer Giovanni Belzoni. [Read more re Belzoni below.] It was Belzoni who uncovered and first excavated (or looted) Abu Simbel in 1817 and it's considered likely that it was he, not Burckhardt, who was led to the site by the young boy and who named the complex after him."
- "The Great Temple stands 30 m.s high and 35 m.s long with 4 seated colossi flanking the entrance, 2 to each side, depicting Ramesses II on his throne; each one 20 m.s tall. Beneath these giant figures are smaller statues (still larger than life-sized) depicting Ramesses' conquered enemies, the Nubians, Libyans, and Hittites. Further statues represent his family members and various protecting gods and symbols of power. Passing between the colossi, through the central entrance, the interior of the temple is decorated with engravings showing Ramesses and Nefertari paying homage to the gods. Ramesses' great victory at Kadesh [in Syria, the battle against the Hittites] (considered by modern scholars to be more of a draw than an Egyptian triumph) is also depicted in detail across the north wall of the Hypostyle Hall. According to the scholars Oakes and Gahlin, these engravings of the events surrounding the battle "present a lively account in both reliefs and text. Preparations for battle are being made in the Egyptian camp. Horses are harnessed or given their fodder while one solder has his wounds dressed. The king's tent is also depicted while another scene shows a council of war between Ramesses and his officers. Two Hittite spies are captured and beaten until they reveal the true whereabouts of Muwatalli, the Hittite king. Finally, the two sides engage in battle, the Egyptians charging in neat formation while the Hittites are in confusion, chariots crashing, horses bolting and soldiers falling into the River Orontes. In the text, Ramesses takes on the whole of the Hittite army single-handed, apart from support rendered by [the god] Amun who defends him in battle and finally hands him the victory."
- "The location of the site was sacred to Hathor long before the temples were built there and, it is thought, was carefully chosen by Ramesses for this very reason. In both temples, Ramesses is recognized as a god among other gods and his choice of an already sacred locale would have strengthened this impression among the people. The temples are also aligned with the east so that, twice a year, on Feb. 21 and Oct. 21, the sun shines directly into the sanctuary of The Great Temple to illuminate the statues of Ramesses and Amun. The dates are thought to correspond to Ramesses' birthday and coronation. The alignment of sacred structures with the rising or setting sun, or with the position of the sun at the solstices, was common throughout the ancient world ... but the sanctuary of The Great Temple differs in that the statue of the god Ptah, who stands among the others, is carefully positioned so that it is never illuminated at any time. As Ptah was associated with the Egyptian underworld, his image was kept in perpetual darkness." www.worldhistory.org/Abu_Simbel/
- Again, this was first excavated and explored by the great Giovanni Battista Belzoni, hydrologist, pioneering Egyptologist, Herculean strongman, showman and adventurer, the closest anyone's come to a real Indiana Jones. www.aramcoworld.com/Articles/September-2018/Egyptology-s-...
- "[In 1816] Belzoni continued upstream with his party toward the temple of Abu Simbel, some 500 km.s south of Luxor, to investigate the remains of 4 20 m. seated statues of Ramses the Great. They found the temple’s grand entryway drowned in sand, and Belzoni realized that excavating there would be like “making a hole in water … an endless task.” Unless, that is, he could find a way to keep the sand from refilling the hole after every scoop. Deploying his knowledge of hydraulics, engineering and stagecraft, he calculated that the doorway “could not be less than 35' [10 m.s] below the surface of the sand,” and the front of the temple was likely proportionately “117' [36 m.s] wide.” (The top of the temple’s doorway is in fact about 2/3rds of the way down a 30-m.-high façade, and the temple is indeed 36 m.s wide.) With palm logs and locally hired labor, Belzoni drove a palisade into the sand in front of the temple. Then he wet the sand “close to the wall over the door” to stop the drifts from sifting back down into the hole. After exposing the face and shoulders of one statue, he had to interrupt the task to return to Luxor to load the bust of the Ramses statue onto a boat. He arranged for a local tribal leader to safeguard the site, sketched his progress and left “with a firm resolution of returning to accomplish its opening."
- "... In February 1817, ... Belzoni was eager to return to his interrupted excavation at Abu Simbel. It wasn’t until summer that Belzoni got his wish, and he and his crew excavated the front of the temple in temperatures topping 51 degrees Celsius. On July 31 they reached “the upper part of the door as evening approached [and] dug away enough sand to be able to enter,” he wrote. But Belzoni chose to wait until dawn, after he observed that the rising sun would pierce directly into the temple’s massive, east-facing doorway. As the first light for more than a thousand years illuminated the interior, the team “entered the finest and … most magnificent of temples … enriched with beautiful intaglios, painting, colossal figures,” Belzoni gushed." No gushing, he was just being descriptive and accurate.
- "... Although he and his team took little from the temple, they spent several days measuring, drawing and compiling a detailed record of the structure’s interior and exterior. “Taking measurements, drawing pictures - that is real archaeological documentation,” says Ryan, who often refers to Belzoni as a 'proto-archeologist.' The accuracy of Belzoni’s record-keeping ... remains useful to this day."
- Here's one of several doc.s re Belzoni online, 'The Great Belzoni: The Last Tomb Raider Of Ancient Egypt'.: youtu.be/LAm9Rcrh2-0?si=Sl8Zt2fUV0xEA0IU