Nubia
is derived from the word former 'Aguilar
'which means 'or '. The place is really
true to its senses with the famous
temple of Abu Simbel built by Ramses
II to submit his divine power. JL
Burckhardt first discovered the Temple
of Abu Simbel in 1813 AD when he spotted
the front of the temple at the top
of the mountain when he was about
to leave the place across the River
Nile.
Major tourist attractions
Temple of Abu Simbel
At the temple of Abu Simbel, 65 feet
high four statues of the king are
shown sitting in pairs at the entrance.
The head and upper body statues on
the left has fallen during the ancient
period. East temple sculpture of Re-Horakhty,
the Sun God; excavated on the niche
just above the entrance. The temple
is constructed in such a way that
the sun's rays illuminate even the
most intimate sanctuary of the temple
and fall on the place statues of Ptah,
Amun-Re, Ramses II and Re-Horakhty
twice a year, c that is to say, on
February 22 and October 22.
The temple is carved
on a colossal sandstone cliff near
the second cataract above the Bank
of the Nile. With the construction
of the High Dam and Lake Nasser training
in the years 1960, it became necessary
to move the temple to its original
location for some higher ground. The
salvation and the transfer of Abu
Simbel was made with the help of UNESCO,
which was a monumental task and was
successfully completed in 1963 at
a cost of 36 million.
Sunk relief of God
Hapy
It is worth noting another relief
God Hapy, the god of Flood at Abu
Simbel. The relief of the god is just
below the headquarters of the huge
statues of Ramses II and appears twice.
Hapy is the symbol of fertility, resulting
from flooding of the Nile. Hapy God
is a god asexual represented by large
breasts and belly swollen. The god
is shown holding lotus stems (symbol
of Upper Egypt) on his left hand and
stems of papyrus (symbol of the Upper
and Lower Egypt) on his right hand.
Her crown also displays these plants.
Temple of Hathor
Temple of Hathor is also built by
Ramses II and dedicated to Hathor,
the goddess of love and music and
his wife and Queen Nefertari. The
facade of the temple is built like
a pylon and has 33-foot-high six standing
statues. The entrance is decorated
on each side with two statues of Ramses
Nefertari fully clothed as with Hathor.
Small statues are that their children
flank the massive statues.
HOW TO REACH
By plane: There are
regular flights to Abu Simbel to Aswan.
By Sea: Tourists
can take a three-day luxury cruise
on Lake Nasser to reach Abu Simbel.
By bus: There are
buses and at least a microbus convoy
with the police every day from Aswan
to Abu Simbel.
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