Abu Simbel near Aswan, Egypt Abu Simbel
Not only are the two temples at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the world but their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world wide appeal. During the salvage operation which began in 1964 and continued until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 60 meters up the sandstone cliff where they had been built more than 3,000 years before. Here they were reassembled, in the exact same relationship to each other and the sun, and covered with an artificial mountain. Most of the joins in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts, but inside the temples it is still possible to see where the blocks were cut. You can also go inside the man made dome and see an exhibition of photographs showing the different stages of the massive removal project. Abu Simbel was first reported by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813, when he came over the mountain and only saw the facade of the great temple as he was preparing to leave that area via the Nile. The two temples, that of Ramesses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burckhardt found
Abu Simbel in Nubia, A Feature Tour Egypt Story Abu Simbel By Marie Parsons
Perhaps after the Giza pyramids, or coincident with them, the great temple of Abu Simbel presents the most familiar image of ancient Egypt to the modern traveler and reader. When the conservation efforts to preserve the temple from the soon-to be built High Aswan Dam and its rising waters were begun in the 1960s, images of the colossal statues filled newspapers and books. The temples were dismantled and relocated in 1968 on the desert plateau, 200 feet above and 600 feet west of their original location. Abu Simbel lies south of Aswan on the western bank of the Nile, 180 miles south of the First Cataract in what was Nubia. The site was known as Meha in ancient times and was first documented in the 18th Dynasty, when Ay and Horemheb had rock-cut chapels hewn in the hills to the south. Ramesses II, called "the Great," built seven rock-cut temples in Nubia. The rock-cut temple of Ramesses II on the west bank of the Nile at Abu Simbel is the greatest of these. This temple was not seen by Europeans until J.J. Burckhardt discovered them in 1813. The temple, called Hwt Ramesses Meryamun, the "Temple of Ramesses, beloved of Amun," was begun fairly early in Ramesses long reign, commissioned some time after his fifth regnal year, but not completed until his 35th regnal year. The massive facade of the main temple is dominated by the four seated colossal statues of Ramesses. These familiar representations are of Ramesses II himself. Each statue, 67 feet high, is seated on a throne and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Each is taller than the famed Memnon Colossus at Thebes, and all are sculpted directly from the rock face. The thrones are decorated on their sides with Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt. Burckhardt said of the first face on the left that it "was the most expressive, youthful countenance, approaching nearer to the Grecian model of beauty than that of any ancient Egyptian figure I have seen."
An ancient earthquake damaged the statues. One is demolished from the waist up. Between the legs and on each of their sides stand smaller statues of members of the royal family. The smaller statues of relatives were probably, for the first southern colossus: Queen Nefretari by the left leg, the kings mother, the great wife of Seti I, Muttuya by his right leg, and Prince Amenhirkhopshef in front. For the second southern colossus, Princess Bentanta stood by the left leg, Princess Nebettawyby the left, and one unnamed female figure, probably that of a lesser royal wife named Esenofre. The family statues at the first northern colossus were, Queen Nefretari, Princess Beketmut and Prince Riameses in front. For the second northern colossus, there were Princess Merytamun, Queen Muttuya and Princess Nofretari. Beneath these giant sculptures are carved figures of bound captives. The forecourt or terrace which fronted the temple contained two tanks for the ablutions of the priests. On the northern side of this terrace stood a small sun-chapel, and on the south, stood a chapel of the god Thoth. Above the entrance, a figure of the falcon-headed sun-god Ra is shown worshipped by flanking images of Ramesses. The rebus figure of Ra contains the prenomen of Ramesses II, or Usermaatre: the falcon headed god Ra has next to his right leg the glyph showing the head and neck of an animal, read User, and the goddess at his left leg is maat. At the top of the temple faade is a row of baboon statues in adoring attitudes, said to welcome the rising sun. A stela at the southern end of the external terrace is called "the Marriage Stela," and is a copy of the record of one of Ramesses IIs diplomatic triumphs, his marriage to a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusilis III. Within the temple a series of chambers becomes increasingly smaller as the floors of the rooms rise noticeably.
This is a basic convention of temple design, as one moves into the temple deeper to the sanctuary which would contain the primeval mound of creation, rising out of the waters of Nun. The first hall within the temple contains eight large statues of the king as Osiris, four on each side, which also serve as pillars to support the roof. The walls are decorated in relief with scenes showing the king in battle, including the great battle of Kadesh on the north, and Syrian, Libyan and Nubian wars on the south wall, and also presenting prisoners to the gods.
On the north entrance wall in this Hypostyle hall a scene shows Ramesses in the presence of Amun, to whom the king appealed during his battle at Kadesh against the Hittites. Behind the first hall is a second smaller hall with ritual offering scenes. Here in one scene both Ramesses and Nefertari are depicted before the sacred barque of Amun, and in another, before the sacred barque of Ra-Horakhaty. Three doors lead from here into a vestibule, and then one reaches the sanctuary. The sanctuary contains a small altar and in its rear niche are four statues. These cult images represent Ramesses II himself, and the three state gods of the New Kingdom, Ra-Horakhty of Heliopolis, Ptah of Memphis and Amun-Ra of Thebes. Before the statues rests a block upon which would have rested the sacred barque itself.
The axis of the temple is arranged so that on two days of the year, in February and October, the rising sun shoots its rays through the entrance and halls until it finally illuminates the sanctuary statues. To the north of the main temple a smaller temple was built in honor of Ramesses great wife, Nefertari, and the goddess Hathor. This temple should not be confused with the beautiful Tomb to Nefertari in the Valley of Queens near Thebes.
As with Ramesses own temple, the cliff face was cut back to resemble sloping walls of a pylon. Six colossal standing figures 33 feet high four of Ramesses and two of Nefertari, were cut from the rock face, along with smaller figures of the royal family. An inscription over the entrance reads "Ramesses II, he has made a temple, excavated in the mountain, of eternal workmanship, for the chief queen Nefertari, beloved of Mu, in Nubia, forever and ever, Nefertari for whose sake the very sun does shine." Inside, Nefertaris temple has a single pillared hall, with carved Hathor heads atop the pillars. On the sides facing the center of the hypostyle; Ramesses is shown smiting his enemies and offering before various gods, while Nefertari is shown, graceful and slender, with hands raised. Three doors lead to a vestibule with ancillary rooms at either end. The sanctuary is complete, though two spaces were left on its side walls for doors to rooms, which were never cut. The inner chamber contains a number of images interrelating the royal couple and the gods. On the rear wall, Hathor is depicted in high relief as a cow emerging from the western mountain, with the king standing beneath her chin. Nefertari is shown repeatedly participating in the divine rituals on an equal footing with the king. On the left wall, Nefertari is seen worshipping before Mut and Hathor, and on the right, Ramesses worships before images of his deified self and his wife. When Greek mercenaries passed by in the 6th century BCE, sand already reached the knees of the statues. These ancient sight-see-ers left an inscription which reads "When King Psammetichus came to Elephantine, this was written by those who sailed with Psammetichus the son of Theolces, and they came beyond Kerkis as far as the river permits." Sources: • •
Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt by John Baines and Jaromir Malek
• •
Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
•
Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt by Richard Wilkinson Marie Parsons is an ardent student of Egyptian archaeology, ancient history and its religion. To learn about the earliest civilization is to learn about ourselves. Marie welcomes comments to
[email protected].
Abu Simbel, the Temple of Ramesses II The Temple of Re-Harakhte
(The Sun Temple of Ramesses II)
The main temple was dedicated to Ramesses II and to the four universal gods Ptah, ReHarakhte, Amun-Re, and to Ramesses II himself. Of the seven temples he built, Abu Simbel is considered to be the most impressive.
The facade of the main temple is 108 feet high and 125 feet wide with four colossal seated statues about 65 feet high wearing the double crown and having the cartouches of Ramesses II. They are taller than the colossi of Memnon at Thebes and are carved out of solid rock. At the feet of the calossus, beginning on the left are Queen Nofretari, Prince Amenhirkhopshef, the Kings mother Muttuya, Princess Bent'anta, unnamed, but probably Esenofre, Princess Nebettawy, Queen Muttuya, Princess Nofretari, Princess Merytamun, Princess Beketmut, Prince Ri'amsese, and Queen Nofretari, who where all members of Ramesses II's family. (Editor's Note: We wonder if Ramesses II bribed his kids to make good grades. Bring home an A and I'll put you in my new Colossus.)
Above the doorway in a niche stands the sun god, a falcon headed representation of Ramesses, holding a war-scepter which shows the head and neck of an animal which is read as user, in his right and a figure of Ma'at in his left. This cleverly creates the Kings throne name of User-Ma'at-Re. At the top of the facade is a row of baboons which are thought to be greeting the morning sun and indeed the monument looks best at that time. The sides of the thrones next to the entrance are decorated with Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt, while below are prisoners, representing conquered nations, to the left, African and to the right, Asian. The entrance leads into a Grand Hall which is 57 feet high and 52 feet wide and was cut from the rock. It is supported with eight pillars with statues of Ramesses. The statues on the north side of the hall wear the double crown, while those on the south the white crown of upper Egypt. Just as other temples in Egypt, the floor and ceiling taper off to draw focus to the sanctuaries in the back of the temple. The reliefs on the north wall of the Grand Hall show scenes from the Battle of Kadesh. Other walls depict the king slaughtering captives in front of the gods Amun-Re and Re-Harakhte, and storming a fortress with his three sons. To either side of the Grand Hall are smaller rooms, two to the South and four to the North. Most suggest that these rooms were for storage (treasure rooms) but elsewhere it is suggested that they were used for festivals related to the Kings Jubilee.
Beyond the Grand Hall is the second hypostyle hall with its flowered pillars. Scenes in this hall show the King and his wife, Nefertari making offerings to Amun and Re-Harakhte (the Sun
God), and beyond that is the three chapels, the central one containing the four deities worshipped in the temple (including Ramesses II). A Solstices occurs twice a year on or about February 20-22nd and October 20-22nd when the rays from the sun enter the front of the temple and bathe the statues of the Gods 200 feet inside the temple with light. Interestingly enough, all but Ptah, the source of Chthonian life. On either side of the Facade are two small chapels. At the Southeast corner of the facade there are three stelae. One of these is called the Marriage Stela and documents the marriage of Ramesses II to the daughter of the King of the Hittites. (Editors Note: The question is, what did she look like? Did Ramesses consider this a heroic deed?) On the other side of the Facade is the Sun Chapel, an open court dedicated to the sun. Here, there are pillars with cavetto cornices. The one with steps held four praying baboons, the other a chapel with images of Khepri and Baboon-Thoth. The latter is now in the Antiquities Museum in Cairo.
Nefertari's Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel Nefertari's Temple of Hathor (Abu Simbel - Small Temple)
See also the Temple of Ramesses II (or Temple of Re-Herakhte) at Abu Simbel Hathor was the wife of the Sun God so in a symbolic way, the two Temples, that of Ramesses II and that of Nefertari, brings Ramesses II and Nefertari and Hathor and the Sun God together as one. The facade of the temple is a receding Pylon, just as the larger temple of Ramesses II. On either side of the entrance to the temple are a deified statue of Nefertari with statues of Ramesses II on either side of her. The statues of Nefertari are the same height as those of Ramesses, which is unusual. Like at Ramesses II's temple, there are children depicted around their feet. There are cobras protecting the Temple door. This temple is much simpler than the Temple of Re-Herakhte. It has only one hypostyle hall and the sanctuary. Within the hall are images of Ramesses in battle with Nefertari present. Other scenes depict Ramesses being crowned by Horus and Seith and presenting Ma'at to Amun. On the back wall, Nefertari is before Hathor and Mut. Just behind the Hypostyle Hall is a small chamber with images ofHathor cow framed in reeds. Beyond that is the sanctuary with a divine cow emerging from the rear rock wall protecting Ramesses, below her. Above the cow, vultures guard the Queens cartouches. Other scenes show Nefertari offering incense to Mut and Hathor, and the King worshipping before his own image and that of Nefertari.
