Abu Simbel is a site located 280 km south of Aswan on the banks of Nile.It was one of the most populated and agriculturally productive regions of Ancient Egypt. This site is UNESCO protected due to its Archaeological significance. the site of Abu Simbel is famous for two rock-cut temples built during the reign of Ramses II. The big temple is dedicated to deified Ramses and the adjacent small temple is dedicated to his wife Nefertari.
DISCOVERY
In 1813, John Lewis Burckhardt was the first person to visit Abu Simbel but at that time the temple was buried in the sand so he could not enter the temple. In 1817, Giovanni Belzoni who was a famous tomb raider of that time managed to enter the temple. Auguste Mariette cleared the structure from sand in 1869.
TEMPLE STRUCTURE
THE BIG TEMPLE
The temple is originally cut from single rock cliff in the second cataract of river Nile. The temple entrance has four colossal seated structures of Ramses II, each being more than 20m high, wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The statues of Queen Nefertari, the Queen mother Muttuya and some of the royal children embraces the Pharaoh’s legs.
The main hypostyle hall of this temple has two rows of four pillars topped by Hathor heads and decorated with the figures of king and queen giving offerings to various deities. The walls and pillars are decorated with the scenes from the life of Ramses II. the scenes depicts his achievements as the destroyer of his enemies like Asians and Nubians. The battle of Qadesh has been depicted on the North wall which took place in 1285 B.C.
The depictions on the walls of second hypostyle hall are purely religious in nature. The central door of the western wall leads to a sanctuary where the carved figures of Ptah, Amen, deified Ramses and Re Horakhty are present. This sanctuary bathes in the sunlight twice a year.
THE SMALL TEMPLE
The architecture of this temple mirrors the big temple to its south but on a small scale.The roof of the hypostyle hall is decorated with the scenes featuring Ramses II defeating his enemies before Amen and Horus, with Nefertari looking on.
HISTORY
The purpose of building Abu Simbel temples was political as it was constructed after the battle of Qadesh. Pharaoh Ramses II carefully coated the political achievements in the sphere of religion and deified himself. The site of Abu Simbel temples was already sacred site of Hathor and this site was also at the border of the conquered land of Nubia. The temple is dedicated to the sun god and is constructed on the manner that the statue of Ra-Horakhty illuminates twice a year in the innermost sanctum of the temple where the statue of Ramses II sit among the Gods. The statue of Ptah is always under darkness as he is the God of the Underworld.
The evidences of a flourishing town from the wall inscriptions throws light on the importance of this site. The small temple dedicated to Pharaoh’s wife Nefertari is one of the few temples dedicated to Pharaoh’s wife( another one being of Nefertiti). The size of Nefertari’s sculpture same as that of Ramses II portrays her importance.
Ramses II managed to immortalize himself with the help of this great structure which reminds the land of the deeds of this great Pharaoh.
RELOCATION
The Abu Simbel temples were relocated in 1964-68 as the part of UNESCO project. Due to the construction of Aswan Dam , there was a threat of the submersion of these temples. To protect this historically rich site 60 countries funded the project for the relocation of the temples. the structure were cut into blocks and reassembled at the site 210 m away from the river and 65 m higher that the original location.
A artificial hill was constructed at the new location and the entire temple was built again, block by block.Due to the relocation the illumination of the inner sanctum is late by one day. An artificial dome was constructed at the new location to support the structure. Some 16,000 blocks were moved using modern methods and this relocation is still the best example of rescue archaeology.
