Ramesses II was something of an egotistical bastard. Not content with knowing he was immortal he covered the land of Egypt from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no king before him had done - and all featured him, him, him...and not in a small way.
Here is matey boy at Abu Simbel - alias the Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World/1960's.
On Friday we flew from Aswan down to Abu Simbel especially to see the two temples there - one for him and one for his Most Beloved Wife, Nefertari - no mean feat as he had hundreds of them - although apparently he never got to meet all of them, let alone shag them all. Words can not describe the sheer scale and beauty of these monuments - but what is ever more head ache inducing is that because the building of the Aswan High Dam woudl mean this and other ancient monuments would be lost under the newly created Lake Nasser, there was a world wide effort to move the monuments to higher ground. And thus the Abu Simbel we visited is 65 metres higher than its original site. Well I have been there and I still can't believe it was possible. The temples within the mountains are stunning with the colours of the frescos almost as fresh as the day they were painted. But how they ever moved them I will never ever know.
Truly incredible.
6 comments:
Fantastic pics - thanks for sharing!
looks like you had a fab time JJ - you lucky ducky! xx
My word, these pics HAVE been a visual treat of your holiday - you must be loving being back in the UK with the lovely weather we're now having... [If its raining anything like as heavily as it is here in the Midlands, my empathies. Egypt sounds very appealing...]
I must admit that I have not been in the least bit bored with your Egyptian diary - in fact it's fascinating to see Egypt through the eyes of an intelligent tourist who approached it with an open mind... (well fairly intelligent!). Great result against Leeds by the way. Was that Egyptian lad Rameses playing for you?
My pleasure Reidski x
Moo - I did and I am!
Lisa - I think it has actually rained every single day since I got back. Lovely :-(
YP - I am sure you would simply love Egypt...and am very glad of your kind words.
And yes, was happy with the Leeds result - now need to stuff them in the replay (as well as 7 days later when we play them yet again in the league.) May the power of the Pharoahs be with us.
Ok, here's a question: Why is Queen Hatchepsut (?sp) buried in the Valley of the Kings?
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