Abu Simbel

Nubian boatman steering the felucca

After waking on the Steinberger Legacy, we had a nice breakfast with our Road Scholar Ramses family. Then we met Eman to walk the short distance to the dock where we boarded a felucca, a traditional Nile sailing boat that has been used in Egypt for thousands of years. 

Mark & Cindy on the felucca

Because there was so little wind, our felucca was towed by a small motorized boat. We went along the cataracts of the Nile at Aswan, passing by the Elephantine Islands whose large boulders appeared like the body parts of elephants to the Egyptians. As we sailed, small children in canoes who would paddle up to our boat. They held squares of cardboard in their hands to use as paddles and could make their small boats move quickly. These canoes were hardly more than surfboards.

Nubian children coming to our felucca

Once alongside our felucca they would sing traditional Nubian songs, as well as songs that they thought we may know, asking for tips. The boatmen sang and danced with our group for tips then brought out items that were made in small Nubian villages for sale. Mary bought a pretty hematite necklace for herself and a carved wooden crocodile for Peter.

Performance of Nubian songs and dances

We came to shore near the historic Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christie lived while her husband was working as an archeologist. In this hotel she wrote her novel, Death on the Nile. We had watched the movie staring Peter Ustinov only a few days before leaving for this trip.  This is the area where there were rapids or cataracts in the Nile River required adjustments to river traffic before dams controlled the flow of the Nile River.

Outside the Seti Hotel

We boarded a bus that took us to the Aswan Airport, where we would fly to Abu Simbel. The aircraft was small, and our group of 16 comprised most of the passengers, so we had plenty of extra seat room. The flight took less than an hour and brought us into the heart of Nubia. As we flew, we noticed that there was nothing but extreme desert all around. We wondered how people could have colonized this barren area in ancient times.

Great Temple of Abu Simbel

A motor coach picked us up at the tiny Abu Simbel airport and took us to the Seti Hotel for lunch. This is a beautiful spot on Lake Nassar with carefully landscaped grounds and three inviting pools that look out over the lake. Our lunch was quite good and included foods prepared slightly differently that we have had them in other areas of Egypt.

Ramses II slaying his enemies

After our lunch we boarded the bus, and Eman told us how the temples of Abu Simbel, as well as several others, were threatened with flooding from the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. An international effort was launched to save these precious artifacts. A problem was that much of Abu Simbel was monolithic, made from a single huge block of sandstone, and would be impossible to move in one unit. The solution that the team found was to cut the temple into blocks that could be moved by machinery and reconstruct the temple on higher ground that would not be flooded as Lake Nassar was formed.

Ramses II defeating his enemies

The Temple of Ramses II was constructed around 1244 BC and celebrates his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC.  The larger temple was dedicated to the Ra and deified Ramses II.  The smaller temple was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramses favorite wife, Nefertari. Her name translates to “beautiful companion,” and she was highly educated.

We checked in at the temple entrance, going through the usual security scan that is at the entrance to every attraction in Egypt. Because Abu Simbel is just so far south, just a few kilometers from the Sudan border, the temperature gets very hot. Even though it was an early March day, the temperature was nearly 100 degrees. While a nice breeze helped, the standing in the sun was very uncomfortable. Several in our group opted to take the golf cart from the parking lot to the temple, which was a great idea for those in our group who are less mobile.

Great Temple at Abu Simbel

The scale of the Ramses II Temple is unbelievable. Because this monument was carved into a cliff, the engineering to move the huge blocks of stone is impressive, but the construction of the artificial mountain housing the temple was even more astounding. Using multinational support from UNSECO, teams of archeologists were able to slice each element from the original temple in order to relocate where it would not be covered by rising Lake Nassar.  Between 1964 and 1968, following the construction of the Aswan High Dam, the 40-million-dollar project moved the entire complex to the present site at the edge of Lake Nassar, out of harm’s way.  An artificial mountain was created with an internal steel framework into which the giant stone sections of the temples were placed.  We found the place to be amazing, and it explains why Adu Simbel is one of the most visited places in Egypt, second only to the pyramids of Giza.

Sanctuary in the Great Temple at Abu Simbel

The Great Temple (Ramses) stands nearly 100 feet tall and over 100 feet wide with two colossi of Ramses on either side of the entrance.  Smaller statues depict Ramses defeating his enemies, the Hittites, Nubians and Libyans.  The temple is oriented to the east so the sun shines directly into the sanctuary of the Great Temple on February 21 and October 21 to illuminate the interior statues of Ra-Horakhty, Ramses and Amun-Ra.  A third statue of Ptah, god of the underworld, is never illuminated at any time and is kept in constant darkness.

Smaller Temple at Abu Simbel

From the Ramses II Temple, we walked the short distance to the Nefratari Temple. Although the temple was smaller than Ramses, the statures and hieroglyphs were similarly impressive. This temple is 40 feet high and nearly 100 feet wide.  Three colossi on either side of the door depict Ramses and Nefertari.  While three of the six colossi were of Ramses and three of his queen, Nefertari, it is important to note that statues of queens were almost always much smaller than those of the kings.  However, in this case, all colossi were 32 feet in height.

Nefertari

We walked back through the ever present bazaar outside of tourist attractions and to the bus.  A few of our group bought things, but most of us had become skilled in rejecting the vendors.  We learned to avoid eye contact, never point at item that is for sale and to haggle with persistence, not hesitating to walk away.  As we saw earlier, the vendors in Nubia are far less pushy than those in lower Egypt in the Cairo and Alexandria areas.

Mary & Cincy in the Nubian Desert

Rather than flying back to Aswan, we rode our coach north through the desert. The terrain looked like we expected Egypt to look, flat with sand dunes everywhere. This scope and desolation of the area amazed us.  We stopped at an oasis in the desert to get drinks or snacks then to continue north toward Aswan. While stopped, we took the opportunity to walk out in the desert and look around.

We arrived at our ship, the Steigenberger Legacy, around 7:30 pm and made our way to the last dinner onboard the ship. The meal of Egyptian food was very good as always. There was a show of traditional Nubian music and dance in the bar area, but Mary and I elected to shower and turn in since we were very tired from the travel and heat. We also needed to pack for our departure from the ship and have our bags outside the door by 7 am.