Houses of the gods

There are temples all along the River Nile.

Egyptian temples were places to worship the gods, but they

were also considered to be where the gods lived.

So, if a god were to live there, it had better be exceptional.

On my 8-day tour, I was given the opportunity to see several of the

most notable temples, but only a fraction of the temples that have been discovered.

The first one we visited was on Philae Island, to see a temple that is

the "newest of the ancient", the Isis Temple.

It was completed (380-362 BC) during the reigns of Ptolemy III and Ptolemy IV,

or the Greek occupation near the end of the reign of the pharaohs. 

It is the last representation of the ancient religion.

A visit to this temple requires a short boat ride from the shores of Aswan

to the island.

The story of Isis is connected to the story of Osiris, Set, and the birth of Horus.

Horus is the falcon headed god, which is why Isis is often represented with wings.

And the story of Isis reassembling a hacked to pieces Osiris is worth looking up.

I'll let you go down that rabbit hole.

This temple is the most intact, due to its more recent history. It managed to

avoid the problem of people taking its stones to build new structures, like

older temples and pyramids through Egypt's ancient history.

Also, in the 1960s, when the newly built Aswan Low dam threatened to

flood and cover the temple, it was taken apart, cut into 50,000 pieces

and carefully moved to the island that it now sits on today.

A truly remarkable feat of human determination.

Hathor.

Goddess of the sky, love, women and fertility.

She is represented, usually, with the head of a cow.

Alongside the Isis Temple there are several smaller shrines to Hathor, Osiris and Nephthys.

From here you can see some pylons sticking out of the water.

That is where the old island where the temple used to be is located.

Also, never pass up a fresh mango juice. Yum!

Back to Aswan by boat.

Yes, it's hot.

The whole trip was hot.

That's what you get for visiting Egypt in August.

Hathor's shrine

Columns depicting female goddesses.

The hieroglyphs inside the temple

Ceiling

After settling into our Aswan hotel, we prepared for an early morning

departure to take the 4 hour drive to another major temple.

We arrived at Abu Simbel early enough to beat the large crowds.

We rounded the path and were smacked in the face with two large carved

temples, on the west bank of the Nile/Lake Nasser.

This temple was also one that was in danger of being flooded by the 

new dam, so it was also taken apart and moved to its current location.

Which makes the structure even more mind-boggling; the

entrance was placed in such a way that one two particular days of the year sunlight 

would shine into the inner sanctuary and illuminate four statues.

After it was rebuilt, the intended days of sunlight have been shifted, 

but only by one day, closer to the Solstice.

The original dates are believed to commemorate Ramses II's birth and coronation.

Speaking of which, the whole thing is a shrine for Ramses II,

also known as Ramses the Great. Ramses II is all over Egypt.

He made himself known in all parts of the empire.

One of four giant Ramses at the entrance.

One of them is broken, as a result of an ancient earthquake.

Here are the broken pieces.

The second temple at Abu Simbel is dedicated to Ramses' favorite wife, Queen Nefertari.

Here she is, shown at the same height as the Ramses statues, a high compliment in Ancient Egypt,

where family members are usually depicted as smaller than the pharaohs, as you can also

see here by the small figures at their feet.

Stars on the ceiling.

Horus

This carving is believed to show corrections.

You can see the double lines of the horse feet and the archer's bow.

This would have been covered by plaster and hidden, but over time

and many years of history, the plaster was lost and we can see the 

original carvings.

There are many side chambers and small rooms with walls of

hieroglyphs and pictures.

The figures in the inner sanctuary.

One is supposed to be Ramses II, as he was convinced he would become a god.

Lake Nasser, formed with the flooding created by the Aswan High Dam.

One of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world.

Very near the Sudan border.

An amazing opportunity that was well worth the long drive.

As this post is getting rather long, the Karnak Temple in Luxor will

have to wait until the next post.