Feats of Engineering, Past and Present

A few days ago we traveled to the southern part of Egypt to visit the great temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel. It was a fascinating day that left us exhausted and awestruck in many ways. It started at 2:45 AM, as the only way to get to Abu Simbel is with the convoy from Aswan that leaves at 3:30. It's a three hour ride, ending just 40 miles north of the border with Sudan. We were allowed just about two hours to view the temples before joining the convoy back to Aswan.

Four Colossi of Ramses II

Statues of Nefertati and Ramses II

The two temples were stunning. They are well preserved inside and out, although very little of either is "outside" as they were both carved into a sandstone cliff. The colossal statues of Ramses and his queen Nefertari adorn the temple entrances. Inside each the pillars and walls are carved floor to ceiling with painted reliefs showing various religious events and festivals. The intricacy of the details and the precision of the construction is truly a testament to the ancient Egyptians' skills at the height of their empire in the 13th century BC.

A scene showing Ramses II offering Lotus flowers to Nefertari

Admiring the fallen face of one of the statues

Fast forward to modern times. As the population of Egypt grew and demand for electricity and arable land outpaced supply, the government undertook a project to build the "High Dam" at Aswan. It was finished in the 1960's, and it is a true accomplishment of modern science--controlling the floodwaters of the Nile and providing much needed farm land and electricity. However, conservation was clearly overlooked. As the waters of the Nile rose to create Lake Nasser, people around the world took notice that the temples at Abu Simbel, and many others along the river, would soon be permanently under water, lost forever. A massive effort by many foreign governments and private companies was made to save those monuments. They cut those temples up, block by block, and reassembled them on higher ground. So what we visited was actually the temple of Ramses II, the original, but moved to a new location. Incredible!

The Aswan High Dam

The temple at Philae

I find it hard to believe that a country whose tourism depends on its glorious past came so close to losing such an incredible piece of history. It also provides a little perspective as to just how much exists in Egypt, knowing that the loss of temples like Abu Simbel and Philae would not have crippled Egyptian tourism. There is far too much to see here, and I think I would get bored before I could visit every temple and every tomb, but I am happy to have visited Abu Simbel without a SCUBA tank!