Bart Bear's Blog

This is a photo of the place that really was the highlight of the Oldies Big Trip last year. It is a set of two temples built by Pharoah Ramses II way up the Nile in the ancient land of Nubia (near the border with Sudan). They were carved out of a solid hill in the 13th century BCE. The big one with the huge seated statues (of Ramses, naturally) is the temple dedicated to the gods Amon-Ra and Ra-Horakhte. Actually, old Ramses ranked himself as a god as well. In the heart of the temple his statue is on the altar between the other two. The walls of the temple are covered with carvings and hieroglyphs telling the story of just how great Ramses was, in battle and in ruling Egypt. He really had a huge ego. One of the nice things about him, though, is that he included small statues of his children among the giant statues of himself. The other temple is not as big and is dedicated to his favourite wife, Nefetari, and the goddess Hathor. In the 1960s the temples were moved higher, into an artificial hill, because they would have been underwater when the Aswan High Dam filled. Mum had been wanting to visit this place ever since she was a little girl. Now she can't wait to go back again.
By the way, do you know why there aren't any Nile crocodiles in Egypt? Well, when the high dam was built the Egyptians rounded up all the crocodiles and tossed them over into the Sudanese side. Just thought you would like to know. Dad told me about it, and he wouldn't go for a swim here even though it was very, very hot, so it must be true.

Labels: Egypt