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Abu Simbel is the most magnificent temple of ancient Egypt one of the most attractive places to visit today, was built by Ramses II “The Great” whose name was “Ramses beloved of Amon Ra”.
Abu Simbel façade shapes as a trapezoidal pylon however it has not bricks, was build by cutting deep into a rocky mountain, the interior goes even deeper as a manmade cave, in ancient times the caverns were acknowledged by many ancient civilizations as the womb of the “Mother Earth”, associating it with it birth and rebirth. i.e. in the Mediterranean area the Greek god Zeus was believe to had been born in a cave. At the entrance of the temple, are four figures of this pharaoh sitting in a throne, all these statues are also carved from one stone piece.
Inside are eight more statues standing as columns sustaining the ceiling wearing attires that identify Ramses II as Osiris. At the end of this corridor he is sitting inside a niche in company of three other deities: Amon Ra of Thebes, Heru Khuti of Heliopolis and Ptah of Memphis the tree most important cult centers of Egypt at that time. Twice a year in February and October the sun light in the early morning enters by the door, aligns with one of his statues and makes a lightning spectacle.
In the interior walls he is represented raving against his enemies, the place is decorated with battle scenes, commemorating his victories in the battle of Kadesh or Qadesh against the Hittites and other battles with Nubians and others; the prisoners of this battles are shown at the exterior at each side of the entrance, at the left side are the ones from Africa and in the other side the others from near Asia.
It is a compound made by two temples; one was meant to Ramses II in its association with the solar god Amon Ra with Heru or Horus of the two horizons (Khuti or Harmachis in Greek) as the central image at the entrance of the temple and the other intended for his royal wife Nefertari, his first a most beloved wife, famous for her tomb in the “Valley of the Queens”, in ancient Thebes, modern Luxor.
This temple complex was located in the west bank of the Nile River in the Aswan region Upper Egypt, the Southern Egyptian frontier with Nubian territory now modern Sudan; took about twenty year to complete and its construction started around the middle of the thirteen century BC. It is part of a series of seven cut in the rock temples made to impress the Nubians, their neighbor with whom traded ivory and gold and as well fought against them innumerable battles in ancient times.
In both places there are a number of chapels, niches and false doors, it was believed that this imaginary opening in the walls permitted the spirits of the diseased in the afterlife world to communicate with this world of the living; participate of the rituals and take advantage of the present that were brought as offerings mean to nourish their spirit or “Ka”, as they thought that afterlife was just a continuity of this life, with the same needs and pleasures that we enjoy on earth.
At this temple Nefertari has been associated to the Egyptian goddess Hathor, the sky goddess linked with the moon as well; she is represented by a cow, cow headed woman or just wearing the caw horns and a disk on to of her head, this goddess was greatly associated with the worshiping ritual in concern to the pharaoh’s.
Goddess Hathor also appears with estrange ears and a shrine on top of her head as the capital of temple’s columns at right, she is also depicted as heavenly cow or with cow horns surmounted by the solar disk at her head as also seen in this picture at left.
Hathor was also thought to be the wife of god Heru (Khuti or Harmachis in Greek) or Horus of the two horizons which is the way that his name appears in this temple. Heru is one of the deities to whom the temple was dedicated. However in Nefertari temple as it can be appreciated also in this picture also is the presence of the Egyptian god Set who represents the chaos and evil and other opposite characteristics to god Heru distinctiveness. Nevertheless Set also had his qualifications, was the god of war and helped Osiris to reach heaven and was taken as friendly to the diseased, as well Set appears together with Heru giving to the Pharaoh the eternal waters or the essence of eternal life.
Abu Simbel façade shapes as a trapezoidal pylon however it has not bricks, was build by cutting deep into a rocky mountain, the interior goes even deeper as a manmade cave, in ancient times the caverns were acknowledged by many ancient civilizations as the womb of the “Mother Earth”, associating it with it birth and rebirth. i.e. in the Mediterranean area the Greek god Zeus was believe to had been born in a cave. At the entrance of the temple, are four figures of this pharaoh sitting in a throne, all these statues are also carved from one stone piece.
Inside are eight more statues standing as columns sustaining the ceiling wearing attires that identify Ramses II as Osiris. At the end of this corridor he is sitting inside a niche in company of three other deities: Amon Ra of Thebes, Heru Khuti of Heliopolis and Ptah of Memphis the tree most important cult centers of Egypt at that time. Twice a year in February and October the sun light in the early morning enters by the door, aligns with one of his statues and makes a lightning spectacle.
In the interior walls he is represented raving against his enemies, the place is decorated with battle scenes, commemorating his victories in the battle of Kadesh or Qadesh against the Hittites and other battles with Nubians and others; the prisoners of this battles are shown at the exterior at each side of the entrance, at the left side are the ones from Africa and in the other side the others from near Asia.
It is a compound made by two temples; one was meant to Ramses II in its association with the solar god Amon Ra with Heru or Horus of the two horizons (Khuti or Harmachis in Greek) as the central image at the entrance of the temple and the other intended for his royal wife Nefertari, his first a most beloved wife, famous for her tomb in the “Valley of the Queens”, in ancient Thebes, modern Luxor.
This temple complex was located in the west bank of the Nile River in the Aswan region Upper Egypt, the Southern Egyptian frontier with Nubian territory now modern Sudan; took about twenty year to complete and its construction started around the middle of the thirteen century BC. It is part of a series of seven cut in the rock temples made to impress the Nubians, their neighbor with whom traded ivory and gold and as well fought against them innumerable battles in ancient times.
In both places there are a number of chapels, niches and false doors, it was believed that this imaginary opening in the walls permitted the spirits of the diseased in the afterlife world to communicate with this world of the living; participate of the rituals and take advantage of the present that were brought as offerings mean to nourish their spirit or “Ka”, as they thought that afterlife was just a continuity of this life, with the same needs and pleasures that we enjoy on earth.
At this temple Nefertari has been associated to the Egyptian goddess Hathor, the sky goddess linked with the moon as well; she is represented by a cow, cow headed woman or just wearing the caw horns and a disk on to of her head, this goddess was greatly associated with the worshiping ritual in concern to the pharaoh’s.
Goddess Hathor also appears with estrange ears and a shrine on top of her head as the capital of temple’s columns at right, she is also depicted as heavenly cow or with cow horns surmounted by the solar disk at her head as also seen in this picture at left.
Hathor was also thought to be the wife of god Heru (Khuti or Harmachis in Greek) or Horus of the two horizons which is the way that his name appears in this temple. Heru is one of the deities to whom the temple was dedicated. However in Nefertari temple as it can be appreciated also in this picture also is the presence of the Egyptian god Set who represents the chaos and evil and other opposite characteristics to god Heru distinctiveness. Nevertheless Set also had his qualifications, was the god of war and helped Osiris to reach heaven and was taken as friendly to the diseased, as well Set appears together with Heru giving to the Pharaoh the eternal waters or the essence of eternal life.
Show more pictures of better quality and larger size of Ramses II and Nefertai's Temple
For (the Table of Contents) Egypt land of Eternity by Julian Pardo
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