Gwyneth’s Favorite Monument in Egypt
Abu Simbel. Many of you will not know what that means and have never been there. But for me, this monument rivals the pyramids.
So, what is Abu Simbel?Abu Simbel is a temple with 4 colossi of Ramses II that sits on the banks of Lake Nasser in Upper (southern) Egypt. Originally, the two temple complex was carved out of the side of a rock mountain in the 13th century BC (that’s almost 3,000 years ago folks!) in order to demonstrate Egypt’s importance and prowess to the Nubians of the region. The temples were designed to bring in the light twice a year to highlight the inner temples’ gods for the occasion of the pharaoh’s birthday and coronation (February 21 and October 21). While the interior and exterior in terms of Ancient Egyptian history are magnificent and were buried under a lot of sand, until being rediscovered (although the locals knew it was there) in 1813 by Swiss Explorer Jean-Louis Burckhardt.
To me, Abu Simbel’s second story is just as fascinating! When President Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to build the Aswan High Dam, it meant forcibly moving the Nubian population away from the flooding that would occur to make Lake Nasser. It also meant many ancient temples would be underwater if a solution could not be found to move them. But what were the solutions? (See here for some ideas that were floated.) Starting in 1960, the newly formed UNESCO collaborated with multiple Egyptian, Italian, Swedish, German, and French archaeologists to cut the temple up and move it to higher ground – 65 meters (approx. 213 feet) up and 210 meters (688 feet) away from the water. The temples were then reassembled in their original orientation on a faux, concrete mountain constructed to allow Abu Simbel to keep its glory. This was the first time UNESCO had ever taken on a project this large and complicated. There is a great documentary from the 70s to see the amazing feat of engineering it took to carefully take the temple down and move it.
It is one thing to see it on a postcard or in a book, but completely a different experience to stand at the feet of the colossi. I like to sit a bit away and enjoy their presence, but also wander throughout the inner temples.
Getting there: Wake up early and catch a bus with the help of your hotel, a guide OR if time is of the essence, you can take a puddle jumper plane to Abu Simbel’s city airport, grab a bus to the site, look around and then get a flight back or go back to Cairo.
Want to read more?
Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olson (2023) This is a great account of the French archaeologist Christiane Desroches-Nobelcourt who advocated for the protection and preservation of Abu Simbel as well as many other temples that would have otherwise been lost at the bottom of Lake Nasser.
The Mysteries of Abu Simbel: Ramses II and the Temples of the Rising Sun by Zahi Hawass and H.E. Farouk Hosni (2001) An interesting piece about the significance of this temple written by Egypt’s leading Egyptologist.
A Future in Ruins: UNESCO, World Heritage and the Dream of Peace by Lynn Meskell (2018)
More about UNESCO and the fight to preserve monuments