Day 20 - Thursday November 13, 2025 - Abu Simbel

 

Abu Simbel might have been sited as one of the 7 wonders of the world had it not been that it was completely underwater when the list was written.  

Abu Simbel was discovered only in 1813 by a Swiss explorer who found the top of the temple peeking out from the sand.  The site was fully excavated and entered in 1817 by an Italian explorer who was able to clear the entrance.

This amazing temple of Ramses II was built around 1264 BC.  The larger temple is dedicated to the gods Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah, with the pharaoh himself as a deified figure, while the smaller temple honors the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari.  

These two temples were situated on the banks of the Nile and when the dam was built, in order to save it, was raised 200 ft higher and moved 750 feet back from Lake Nassar.  

The difference between these temples and others we’ve seen are that all of these carvings are carved right out of the mountain, or rock face.  

No alarm clock this morning. We did have breakfast at 6 am and then at 10:15, gathered on the top deck to view Abu Simbel from the ship as we sailed up to it.

Approaching Abu Simbel by boat on Lake Nassar 

We disembarked at 11:00 am four our tour.  Words cannot express how majestic this place is.  The height of the carvings are huge and when you go inside the tomb, the carvings still have amazing color and definition. 

Sam, our guide, hired golf carts for us instead of the long walk to the entrance.  Everything here costs 50 EGP which equates to $1 US.  

We had our lecture from him outside as he’s not allowed to talk inside to encourage better flow of traffic.  There were little to no lines when we went inside.   Absolutely amazing. 

The front has four colossal seated statues of Ramesses II, each standing over 65 feet tall. One of these statues was damaged by an earthquake in antiquity, and its fragments are still on the ground

The temple's alignment is so precise that on February 22 and October 22 each year, sunlight penetrates the inner sanctuary to illuminate the statues.

Pictures of the outside of the Great Temple

Earthquake crumbled the 2nd carving and the head lies on the ground in front 

Children are depicted between the feet

Wives were to the sides of Ramses

Inside the temple there are amazing carvings and statues and the color still remains 

Sam was taking pictures of each of us.  Why not

The second temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari, his great royal wife.  Her statutes on the outside are the same size as her husband, rare, but shows her importance.

We are as far south on Lake  Nassar as permitted by the Egyptian government.  We are only 12 miles from the Sudan border.    

Tonight we go back to the temples at 5:45 pm for a sound and light show and then return to the ship for dinner.

Light and sound show was amazing in the dark at the Temple of Abu Simbel 

Our dinner table tonight when we returned from the light show

Tomorrow morning at 7:00 am we board a bus for a 3 1/2 hour ride back to Aswan.  There’s a morning tour of a museum and then we board our second boat for travel up the Nile River to Luxor and The Valley of the Kings.