EGYPTIAN EXPERIENCE - DAY Five

 

Day Five

Abu Simbel

The grand temple at Abu Simbel, and not the Pyramids, was what I had been most excitedly looking forward to on this trip. My fascination with Abu Simbel began in my teens in the late 1960s, when I read a long feature in Readers Digest about its spectacular disassembly and reconstruction at a higher elevation to prevent it from being submerged by Lake Nasser. A fascination that had endured for more than 5 decades. And now I was on the verge of realising my dream.

Most of my homework before the trip had been devoted to the Abu Simbel Temple. I had invested considerable time in reading and watching YouTube videos about the temple. I had a pretty good idea of what to expect.

We rose very early and stepped out of the cruise clutching packed breakfast bags at the unearthly hour of 3.30. Abu Simbel lies just 20 km shy of the Sudanese border, and the journey was a gruelling four-and-a-half-hour ride across 280 km of desert. The first target was to be the first to arrive at the pit stop for toilet break and tea. That accomplished, we sped through the desert, hoping to arrive before all the other tour groups at Abu Simbel. Our remarkable tour guide was also a master strategist.

As we stepped through the digitally controlled turnstiles, we found ourselves staring at the rear of an immense artificial mountain built to replace the original sandstone cliff that had once cradled the temple. Following a ramp with the vast expanse of Lake Nasser to our left, we rounded the corner, and the temple began to reveal itself, like a grand stage curtain slowly drawing open. The first glimpse was breathtaking: two colossal statues of Ramses II loomed before us, their sheer scale overwhelming. Between them, the shattered remains of a third figure, while the fourth statue remained just out of sight. The sight was so awe-inspiring, so majestic, that I froze, raised my camera, and clicked the first of many photographs.

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel features a monumental facade dominated by four colossal seated statues of Ramses II, each about 20 meters tall, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. One of the statues is broken, probably due to an earthquake. Smaller statues of his family members, including Queen Nefertari and his children, stand beside his legs. Above the entrance, a relief of Ra-Horakhty (a combination of Ra and Horus) is depicted in a niche. And right on top is a row of 24 baboons with their arms raised, one for each hour of the day.

The Small Temple of Abu Simbel, dedicated to Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor, has a facade adorned with six standing statues—four of Ramses II and two of Nefertari, all about 10 meters tall. Notably, Nefertari is depicted at the same height as the pharaoh, a rare honour in Egyptian art.

Guides are not allowed inside the dark confined space of the temples to avoid crowding and noise. Guides provide explanations of the salient features before the visitors enter to explore independently.

The light is low inside and it takes a bit of time for the eye to notice the carvings on the walls. Some of the most striking scenes feature the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites in 1274 BC. Ramses-II is depicted charging into the battle in his chariot, wielding his bow. Though the battle is believed to have ended in a stalemate, resulting in the world’s first peace treaty, Ramses claimed victory and spared no efforts to propagate his valour and heroism.

Other scenes on the walls portray offerings being made to various Gods. There are also many colossal statues of the vain Pharaoh.

It is at the altar of the Great Temple that the megalomania of the Ramses-II reaches its zenith. He has placed himself on the altar between Amun and Ra-Horakhty. The 4^th God on the altar is Ptah. There are many hypotheses on why Ramses chose to build this grand temple at Nubia far away from his capital. One of them is that he didn’t want the lay people to know about his self-deification, lest they rise in revolt. Millennia later, some modern-day rulers have emulated Ramses and claimed divine license for their rule.

Abu Simbel Temple is one of the 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Egypt. It doubly deserves that recognition, first for the initial conception and second for the extraordinary rescue and reconstruction. Despite my initial euphoria, Abu Simbel left me with mixed feelings.

Return Ride

Our return ride from Abu Simbel to Aswan was not uneventful. First, there was a tyre burst and then there was a minor mishap with another vehicle which threatened to turn nasty. The reason for recording these mundane stuff is to applaud and appreciate the police. They have a separate wing named “Tourism and Antiquities Police”. A cop even helped in changing the tyre. We were nearly an hour late beyond the scheduled departure of the cruise, but they waited. The cruise glided into the Nile exactly as we sat down for a late lunch. 

Kom Ombo Temple

The cruise docked at Kom Ombo just as the Sun was going down in a fiery ball. We scampered out like rats to beat the crowd, but they had beaten us this time. The result was a melee of sorts.

Kom Ombo temple, like the Isis temple, was built during the Ptolemaic period and shows Roman influence. It is a dual temple dedicated to 2 Gods – Sobek and Horus the Elder – with perfectly symmetrical design. Sobek is the crocodile-headed God of the Nile and Horus the Elder is not to be confused with the more famous Horus, the son of Isis, who fought and defeated his uncle Seth.

Besides the usual scenes of coronation and offerings to various Gods, the temple is famous for the engravings of the ancient Egyptian calendar. Our guide took special pains to explain it diligently. The year had 3 seasons – Flood, Sowing and Harvest. Each season lasted 4 months. Each month had 3 weeks of 10 days each. Besides the 360 days, the calendar had 5 “dark days” which were celebrated as birthdays of Osiris, Horus the Elder, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. The temple also has carvings of medical instruments, surgical tools and childbirth scenes.

Crocodile Museum

There is a compact Crocodile Museum in the temple complex. There was very little time, and the museum junkie within me clicked photos of all the exhibits and notes. Back home, I found a jpg to doc converter and transcribed all the museum notes into a word file for easy reading. The effort was rewarding.

Sobek was depicted as a crocodile-headed man wearing a headdress of ram-horns topped by a sun disk and two tall plumes. The ancient Egyptians prayed to Sobek for protection, strength, and fertility, and also viewed him as a creator god. He was also the "Lord of the Inundation", perhaps because crocodiles were known to predict the height of the flood, as they always built their nests above the flood level. The Egyptians both respected and feared the power of the crocodile. The crocodile's ability to snatch and devour its prey was considered symbolic of the might and potency of the pharaoh. The word "sovereign" was written with two crocodiles, linking both the crocodile and Sobek the god, with the king. As per one myth, it was Sobek who carried the dead body of Osiris to the banks of the Nile after he was killed by Seth. Very confusingly, the notes also say that Hathor was the consort of Sobek.

Photo of the Day

More than half of the trip is over, but as I sat down to dinner, I had a sense that grander things were yet to come.