Abu Simbel and Kom Ombo

December 16, 2023
001 - P1210742 We got up early from our ship and take our tour bus from Aswan to visit Abu Simbel. Tickets office on the left, entrance and exit on the right hand side.
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005 - IMG_2707 Let's walk over to see the two Abu Simbel temples...
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002 - P1210743 Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan....
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004 - P1210747 The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II.
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007 - IMG_2709 Their huge external rock relief figures of Ramesses II have become iconic. His wife, Nefertari, and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet....
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008 - IMG_2710 The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 to higher ground to avoid it being submerged by Lake Nasser, the Aswan Dam reservoir.
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009 - IMG_2711
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010 - IMG_2712 An artificial hill was made from a domed structure to house the Abu Simbel Temples.
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011 - IMG_2713
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012 - IMG_2714
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020 - IMG_8727 The Great Temple of Ramesses II. The single entrance is flanked by four colossal, 20 m (66 ft) statues, each representing Ramesses II seated on a throne and...
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006 - P1210750 Construction of the temple complex started in 1264 BC and lasted for about 20 years, until 1244 BC. It was known as the Temple of Ramesses, Beloved by Amun.
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028 - IMG_2721 The Great Temple of Ramesses II is dedicated to Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Amun, Egypt's three state deities of the time, and features four large statues of Ramesses...
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032 - IMG_2724 Statues of chief wife Nefertari of Ramesses appear beside a colossus of Ramesses II at both sides to the entrance of the temple.
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033 - IMG_2725
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019 - P1210752 The right side wall in front of the entrance...
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018 - P1210751 A closer look at it...
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024 - IMG_8730 The inner part of the temple has the same triangular layout that most ancient Egyptian temples follow, with rooms decreasing in size from the entrance to the...
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025 - IMG_8731 The temple is complex in structure and quite unusual because of its many side chambers. The hypostyle hall (sometimes also called a pronaos) is 18 m (59 ft)...
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027 - IMG_8733
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