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~Abu Simbel, Aswan and
the Nile~
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ABU SIMBEL, TEMPLE OF HATHOR AND NEFERTARI
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~ CAIRO
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~ ABU SIMBEL, ASWAN AND THE NILE
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We flew from Cairo to visit Abu Simbel, a magnificent temple complex on the shores of Lake Nasser that had actually been physically dismantled and reassembled upon higher ground in mid-1960. I recalled reading of the four year project decades before in National Geographic magazine, and the images of the great stones being carefully sawed apart, and then expertly moved and reassembled had stayed vividly in my memory. Technology was so rightfully harnessed to preserve such a vital piece of history, and I applauded those who toiled to save a site that so eloquently speaks to us of the past. The wonder of the creation of original structure was repeated in the complex process of its modern relocation.
This grand project was sponsored by UNESCO, and was completed to save the site from the encroaching waters of the lake, which were steadily rising after the construction of the High Dam of Aswan several hundred miles away. The beautiful island temple of Philae was also moved to escape the rising waters of Lake Nasser, though its original orientation to the sun was sadly lost in the process.
Ramses II built the two temples of Abu Simbel 3000 years ago, in perfect alignment to briefly allow the rays of the equinox sun to strike certain statues deep within the interior of the main structure. The alignments were preserved when the temples were recently moved up almost 200 feet to their new location on higher ground. Both temples have been so carefully re-erected that there are no visible seams on the outsides of the structures. The door of the unmistakable and imposing main temple is flanked on either side by a pair of two huge 70 foot statues of the seated Ramses, purposefully carved directly into a huge wall of limestone. The colossal statues, three of which are intact, dwarfed us as we stood at their gigantic feet; our eyes gazing upward in awe.
A striking feature of the façade of the smaller temple, dedicated to the goddess Hathor, is the erection of two likenesses of Ramses’ first wife Nefertari. She stands proudly beside him, carved to the same dimensions as the two huge likenesses of Ramses himself. At no other time in Egypt has a pharaoh so honored one of his wives, and her tomb in the Valley of the Queens is one of the most opulent and richly decorated. His feelings of love and respect for her, so evident after thousands of years, spoke to me strongly. He broke with tradition and loudly proclaimed to all that this woman, his beloved wife, was to be held in the same regard as he.
Hathor's face greeted us as we entered her temple. Her likenesses, repeated multiple times on the temple columns, were gently graced with long hair curled up on the ends and the stately ears of a cow. Her angular features appeared almost alien. In Abu Simbel her images had been spared the all too common intentional destruction of Egyptian temple art. Seeing her face chipped and scarred at other locations was always extremely difficult for me, more so than with any of the other gods or goddesses. I felt an instant connection to Hathor; this sweetly feminine goddess of love, beauty, music, and frivolity seemed hauntingly familiar.
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