Egypt - Moving Monuments

December 9-10

Hello everyone!

The pyramids are an amazing sight but they are not the only remnant of this golden civilisation. The kingdom at its zenith was large and all-encompassing, with incredible creations at its frontiers to show its might.

The colossal statues at the entrance of Abu Simbel

A mirage on the edge of the Sahara Desert

An overnight bus ride south from Giza takes you to the small southern city of Aswan. A surprisingly comfortable ride (and one in which we apparently managed to avoid the numerous military checkpoints) allowed my shattered body to get some sleep and led us into Aswan just after sunrise.

Some of our group flew, which takes a lot less time than the 13 hour bus

An Egyptian sunrise

Aswan has a small-town vibe which contradicts its storied history at the edge of the Egyptian kingdoms. It has plenty of modern fascinations, too - examples include the famous Cataract Hotel, where Agatha Christie may have written part of Death on the Nile, and the large Coptic Christian cathedral whose towers soar into the night sky.

Between 10% and 20% of Egyptians are Coptic

It's called 'Cataract' due to the river, not about anyone's eyes

It may have also seemed quite quiet due to the massive police presence on the main boulevard which skirts the eastern side of the Nile. The Aswan Forum, an international conference, was about to happen. Egypt’s President, Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi, was due to attend, resulting in a city-wide clean-up.

Posters advertising the conference were frequently seen around Aswan

One of many security cars with heavily armed forces

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was also rumoured to be arriving. Egypt and Russia, and the USSR before that, have had a mutually friendly history. The most visually obvious example of this is the dam which bears the name of the city, which was constructed in the 1960s with the help of the Soviet Union.

The dam cost $1 billion to construct

With Soviet help, it took 11 years to build the dam

The reasoning for the construction of the Aswan Dam, and the subsequent Lake Nasser behind it, is two-fold: firstly, to generate power for the country; secondly, to reduce the age-old flooding of the banks of the Nile, which was a vital aspect of Ancient Egyptian theology and agriculture but now would stop people building close to the water.

Almost 2 million cubic metres of water is stored in Lake Nasser

The two countries also built a Friendship Tower

This massive undertaking had many side effects. One of these was that the creation of the artificial lake displaced many of the Nubian population. Up to 90% of the ethnic group that were displaced moved north into Egypt, rather than south into Sudan. We were invited to a dinner at a ‘traditional’ Nubian house - to me it seemed more like a restaurant with a couple of bedrooms and pet crocodiles which didn’t want to be there.

Getting to the house involved a lovely sunset boat ride

Not overly happy about this 'tradition', seems a bit unfair

Nubians have an important place in Ancient Egyptian history as they were often the opposition in war. Aswan was seen as the southern edge of the Egyptian ‘empire’ and the gateway to the rest of what we call Africa. Temples were built there. Temples which would have been swamped by the waters of Lake Nasser without a massive human intervention.

Temple of Philae

Abu Simbel

One example is the Temple of Philae - the Love Temple. Dedicated to Isis (not the one in the news over the past few years, and not the river that flows through Oxford), it was completed by Roman emperors, and the Greco-Roman influence is clearly visible as you arrive at the temple by boat.

Isis was highly respected even during Greek and Roman control of Egypt

The temple was begun by Ptolemy II and finished by the Romans

The black lines in the picture below show the high water mark of the river as it rose and fell each year.  The temple, along with many other monuments, was moved before construction of the dam started in 1960 to prevent it being submerged permanently. A dam was built around the sandstone complex and archaeologists waited until the complex was completely dry, before dismantling the many temples and painstakingly labelling each and every brick before transporting and rebuilding on a nearby, higher island. Amazing.

I was amazed that the hieroglyphics were still there, even
after being submerged annually for thousands of years

The temple was moved between 1972 and 1980

The temple has a large forecourt, where the masses would be allowed to congregate and make offers to the gods venerated at this temple, Isis and Horus. There’s an interesting family background to this particular Egyptian god family, the script of which probably wouldn’t even be accepted by Netflix. The most bizarre part for me was that Horus married his ‘babysitter’, Hathor. Grooming, surely?

Isis scoured Egypt collecting bits of her husband Osiris, who
had been butchered by his brother Seth

After putting him back together, Isis and Osiris conceived Horus,
who would later kill Seth. Have that, Eastenders...

This was the first real chance for us to see the incredible detail and amount of Egyptian hieroglyphics which decorate most monuments from the ancient civilisation. Having been used by both Christians and Muslims as a place of worship long after this era, we are lucky to be able to see and appreciate the intricacy of the writing on the walls of temples such as Philae.

Many faces were chiselled away when different religions used the temple

Security isn't as tight as anticipated. Up to me to step up...

Another temple that was in this area and thus affected by the creation of the dam is one of the most staggering sights I have ever seen: Abu Simbel. 

The entrance to Abu Simbel

An beautiful engraving of Horus which has kept its colour 

A very early bus ride (we left at 3:30am) south-west of Aswan takes you to...well, the middle of nowhere, frankly. The edges of ancient Egyptian land. The gateway to the south, an area which needed fortification and protection. The temple, dedicated to Ramses II, is quite the intimidation tactic.

Another day, another sunrise - so another early wake-up

The temple is thought to have been built over a 30 year period

Not much recently has left me in the state I was when the dusty track we walked on took a slight left turn and led our eyes to the four enormous statues which hide the entrance to Abu Simbel. I heard the woman next to me sharply intake breath in shock. I turned my head and my jaw metaphorically hit the floor. ‘Wow’ was just about the only thing that escaped my mouth. I can’t write the other phrase which came out.

It's believed to be the last temple (as opposed to tomb) discovered
by a European, in either 1813 or 1817 depending on sources

The statues are over 20 metres tall

Carved out of the rock, those four depictions of the King loom large and stare menacingly out to the distance. I can only imagine what feelings it must have stirred in any attacker from Nubia. One of them has crumbled over time.

The four faces show different ages of the King - 30, 40, 50 and 60

The head of the broken colossi sits at its feet

The detail inside the rock-hewn temple is meticulous. Not without error, though. Over time, as stone and plaster have eroded, Egyptologists have discovered mistakes and redrawing of famous battles. Fail is an acronym for First Attempt In Learning, after all… Also, with the incredible detail and inscriptions, I guess it’s OK to cover up one or two tiny infractions...

8 more domineering statues can be found inside the temple

The original etching had the arrow pointing at the horse's head

It gets even more incredible when you learn about some of its features. It was built so that the Sun’s rays would enter the temple and shine on the King’s face inside the centre of the structure on two particular days of the year, rumoured to be his coronation and birthday. To be able to judge that is impressive. To do so thousands of years ago beggars belief.

The dates actually changed after the temple was moved

Did Egyptians have kilts before the Scots?

It is an astonishing site in its own right. Factor in the operation, which took many years and a lot of creative thinking, to rescue the temple from the ever-rising Nile after the dam’s construction, and you have a marvel that is difficult to truly comprehend.

It took five months for any equipment from Europe to arrive

The water rose to just 2 metres below the temple at one point

Abu Simbel is now in an artificially-created cliff, 60 metres higher than it was before. Rather than being lost to modern human endeavours, this majestic monument has instead been preserved so that it can be treasured for time to come. A temple fit for one of Ancient Egypt’s most revered kings.

One of the small chambers, adorned with stories

Definitely could be the fourth statue

Other people got told off for jumping off the dam wall - shh...

Love you all,

Matt