So many historical landmarks in Egypt, and all of them have interesting hidden facts worth knowing. Among them, Abu Simbel Temple facts may be the ones that surprise many people.
This landmark is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Egypt. It’s near the Aswan dam and accessible from many directions. And it holds so many interesting facts that visitors are not aware of.
The importance of Why Abu Simbel Temple facts
Visitors who know these facts will have a new appreciation when they visit this enormous site. It will be more than just a landmark they visit but is also a part of history. It’s not uncommon how visitors who have learned about Abu Simbel’s facts to end up learning more about ancient Egyptian culture.
5 Facts on Abu Simbel
Sandstrom buried the temple complex for many centuries. Thankfully, in the early 18th century, a researcher and explorer found the top of the Great Temple. He shared his discovery and the project to unravel the grand complex started.
However, this is only one of many facts about this temple complex. Abu Simbel, like many ancient Egyptian cultures, may hold more stories that waiting to be discovered.
1. Why they built it
Since it has the name temple, many people think that Abu Simbel is a place of worship. But the truth is Ramesses II built the Abu Simbel to celebrate his winning.
As proof, Visitors can see relief depicting his conquests. The most famous one in the temple is the Battle of Kadesh. It also holds relief showing their victories over other countries. Ramesses II also depicted himself as both King and God, by including his throne name as the Deified King at the entrance.
During his reign, he had an ambitious and extensive building plan for all of Egypt. He ordered his people to build temples and more buildings, especially on the border between Egypt and Nubia. Thus even though this is a temple, it also houses Ramesses II’s victorious stories.
2. It’s a multi Gods temple
The Abu Simbel complex consists of two temples. The great temple of Abu Simbel housed the three state Gods for the ancient Egyptian at that time. Those are Ra-Horakhty, Amun, and Ptah. Ramesses II personified these Gods in the statues and hieroglyphs.
The smaller temple housed adoration to the Goddess Hathor. Just like in the Grand Temple, the smaller temple has Queen Nefertari as the Goddess’ personification.
Being a multi Gods temple is a unique concept for ancient Egyptians. Most temples only serve one God. It’s rare to have a temple this big to serve multiple Gods at once.
3. It has an astrological mystery
One interesting fact about Abu Simbel is that it’s in line with the sun. Twice a year, visitors can witness the sun lights up the temple. Visitors can see most of the scriptures on the wall. All but the statue of Ptah, the God that oversees the land of the dead.
Many historians believe that Ramesses II and ancient Egyptian architects designed these temples to have this unique feature. This phenomenon always happens on February 22nd and October 22nd every year. On other days, the complex look like most ancient Egypt temples. But on these particular days, Abu Simbel lights up.
Since the complex is not in its original place, historians can’t tell if the date for this phenomenon has been the same during the ancient Egypt era. They also can’t tell if this particular design correlates to another astrology phenomenon.
4. It’s not the original location
Ramesses II built the Abu Simbel complex near the border of Lower and Upper Nubia. It was his way to show power and protection for both Egyptians and Nubians. Unfortunately, during the building of Aswan High Dam, the complex was part of the area that may go underwater.
Egyptian government received massive help from International countries to start the relocation process in 1964. Just like the building process that took over 20 years. The relocation process also took almost 20 years to do.
Scientists, historians, and architects spliced the giant stones into smaller pieces to move into the new location. The cutting process alone was close to 4 years before they relocated the temple.
5. There is no mummy in Abu Simbel
Not all ancient Egyptian building houses a mummy. Being a temple, Abu Simbel doesn’t hold any mummies inside. The interior is like most temples in Ancient Egypt with large pillars in an even larger hall. However, this complex is unique because it has many side chambers.
Both temples in Abu Simbel hold many adorations to the Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. These stories depict Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari as the correlating Gods. However, he included some family members like his Queen Mother, his first two sons, and his first six daughters in the temple.
What happened to the statues in Abu Simbel?
The entrance to the Great Temple of Abu Simbel had four depictions of Ramesses II. However, one of the statues doesn’t have a head and half of a torso. An earthquake destroyed the particular statue. Unfortunately, archeologists couldn’t recover the missing piece.
Since the earthquake happened before the rediscovering of the Abu Simbel complex, scientists believe that the missing pieces are far gone.
Is it safe to visit Abu Simbel?
Abu Simbel is no longer in danger of being underwater. And the relocation also helps the public to visit and enjoy the glory of Ramesses II. Visitors can open the temple complex during its opening hours. Though many reports state it’s best to visit in the morning. One of the most popular methods to visit the complex is by a Nile cruise. But tourists also can fly in directly into the complex or stay at a hotel nearby.
After knowing these Abu Simbel Temple facts, visitors will want to visit the complex soon. They can head to Exodus travel at https://exodustravel.net to find the best Abu Simbel tour that matches their schedule. Visitors can always reach out for a personalized tour if they can’t find the package they like.
Read More : 3 Parts of Abu Simbel Tours of Egypt Itinerary