Egypt, a journey through History
A travel report
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Aswan and Abu Simbel
Like many temples and archeological sites, Abu Simbel temples were threatened by the formation of Lake Nasser. A campaign leaded by Unesco raised funds and technical assistance to remove these two temples, something that had not been attempted before. Blocks were carefully cut and reassembled 210 m far and 60 m above their original location, a work that took two years of planning and other two for its execution. A bus took us to the site and the entrance fee includes the services of a guide. Ours, Ehab, showed us everything in the short time we had there, about 90 minutes only. It was enough, but certainly a little bit more time would have been appreciated. We started the tour in front of the majestic temple built by Ramses II and dedicated to the sun-god Re-Herakhte. Four huge statues (23 m high) of the pharaoh, one of them partially destroyed, dominate the façade. He is seated and smaller statues of members of his families are between his legs. A statue of Re-Herakhte is above the gate. Inside, the main aisle is flanked by eight columns, in front of each more statues of Ramses II are found, this time standing up with arms crossed over his chest. On the walls, painted carvings show battles he won and religious scenes. Side chambers were probably used for keeping sacred texts and other items used in ceremonies. One of the outstanding things in this temple is its sanctuary. Four statues are found inside it, those of the gods Ptah, Amun-Re and Re-Herakhte, and the pharaoh again, all seated and facing the temple's entrance. Twice a year, the sun rays entering the temple at dawn illuminate the statues. Before the temple was relocated, that of Ptah, god of darkness, remainded in the dark, but now, despite all care, this symbolism is no longer achieved. These two days coincided with the birthday and the coronation of Ramses II. Next to it, we saw the smaller temple dedicated to Hathor, wife of Re-Herakhte, but built for Nefertari, Ramses' wife. Again the façade is dominated by four statues of the pharaoh, flanking two of Nefertari. These statues are about 10 m high and smaller statues of their children are next to them. The decoration inside, also depicting battles and religious scenes, are more delicate than those of the main temple. We were then taken inside the false mountain built over the rebuilt blocks cut from the original site. There is an immense concrete structure over which rocks and sand were placed to conceal it. We left it through a backdoor and this was the end of the tour, so I had to run to take a picture in front of the temple, which I had not taken before. The bus took us back to the airport, where the plane waited for the tourists to fly back to Aswan. Ashraf was there to take us the our hotel, the New Cataract, next to the more famous Old Cataract, which we visited after lunch. This hotel, built at the beginning of the century, has an elegant moorish decoration inside and had famous guests like Agatha Christie and François Mitterand. King Hassan II, from Morocco, was expected to arrive in the following days. We had tea at sunset on a terrace cafè overlooking the Nile. At about 6 pm we went to the recently opened Nubian Museum. It is very spacious and panels in Arabics and English tell the history of this people. There was so much information, but organized in a way that it goes back and forth in time, that we got a bit confused in the end. I was surprised by the variety of granite colors shown in the many statues and by the delicate work of some ancient items displayed there. There were also displays about Aswan Dam. Among the temples that have been saved from Lake Nasser waters are those of Debod and Dendur, now in Madrid and New York, respectively, and a third one whose name I forgot. Some like Abu Simbel and Philae were relocated, but many are underwater, probably lost forever. We had to be expelled from the museum at the closing time, almost 9 pm. There was still a bit to see, specially regarding the more recent history of the Nubians, but we were satisfied with what we had been able to see. Back to the hotel, we got ready to meet Ashraf and his friend Mohamed for dinner. We went to a local non-touristic restaurant inside the market, were we had delicious koftas served with rice, vegetables and bread. On the way we bought powedered karkaday (which we had been told it was easier to prepare than the leaves, but I didn't find it so easy when I tried it, it still recquired a sieve). We were told there are three types of karkaday: the best is the Sudanese, then the Aswan and then a much worse one in quality, normally referred to as Egyptian.
Ashraf picked us up at about 8 am and on the way to the airport we stopped in an alabaster shop, as Beth was interested in buying some souvenirs, but they did not have cheap items and quality was not what she was after. Safaa was waiting for us at the airport and this time, as we had requested, he got us a hotel closer to the airport, Baron Hotel. Not so big or elegant as the Pyramids Park we had been before, but very good and much more adequate for us. After we checked in and left our luggage in our room, Safaa took us downtown, near a place where Beth could buy the music tapes. We then had our first adventure as pedestrians in the chaotic traffic of Cairo. There are apparently no traffic signs and people simply cross the streets, whether a car is coming or not seeming an insignificant detail. We finally managed to get to the other sidewalk, though, and we laughed a lot about it. Beth bought a tape and we then started our way to Khan el-Khalili market. As we were checking our map, a guy approached us and offered assistance. His name is Ehab, a student of Economics, and he said we could follow him, since he was also going in that direction. Near the market he met a friend, Mohamed, also a student, and we all went to a bar near the mosque of al-Ghuri to chat and drink karkaday. We also tried a hot drink made of milk, coconut and nuts, but it is not my style. Afterwards, they showed us the spice market nearby where we were. From there we said farewell and went to the other side of the road (through a pedestrian overpass this time) to the main market. After a lot of looking and bargaining, we both got our souvenirs. I bought painted little glass bottles for perfumes, papyrus bookmarks and a silver pendant with Neferiti's cartouche. We tried to find some interesting guide books we had seen before in so many places, but they are not found in the market. I saw schawarma (spit-roasted lamb, served in pitta bread) being sold, but Beth looked disgustingly at it. Having nothing more to buy, we took a taxi to the hotel, where we had a good shower before going to dinner. The various salads, pasta and meat dishes of the buffet were good, but again the good looking desserts were a deception. What is wrong with sweets in Egypt? Once again, we saw a wedding party. Safaa picked us up at 10 pm for the last time - he was probably fed up with us by then, poor guy! Our night flight back to Madrid left at about 1 am and we arrived there early in the morning. We spent the cold sunny day in beautiful Segovia, before taking the long flight back home that same day. Definitely Egypt showed us a lot of its charms, and we were enchanted by what we saw. Maybe we were lucky enough to see the best of its ancient monuments, though we know there is a lot more to see. Hopefully tourists start visiting this country again and, more than that, people who were involved in that grievous incident may learn that foreigners who visit Egypt are not enemies, but most sincere friends.
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Egypt, a journey through History |
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The report In and around Cairo Hurghada and the Red Sea Luxor and more From Luxor to Aswan Aswan and Abu Simbel |
The info Geography and History Related sites Photos |
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no reproduction is allowed without the author's agreement
Rio de Janeiro, February 8, 1998 |
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Day 9 - "Being inside the concrete structure sort of broke the magic of the temple, giving a feeling of being inside a Disneyworld attraction."
I didn't have much for breakfast before leaving the boat at 8 am, when Ashraf came to pick us up and take us to the airport. Taken by other tour companies, most of our companions on the boat were on Egypt Air's 40 min flight to Abu Simbel, which left Aswan at about 10 am. We took window seats on the left and the view of the temples prior to landing was exciting. The temples, carved in sandstone under Ramses II over 3000 years ago, had been almost completely buried for centuries until they were rediscovered in the beginning of last century. 
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