Abu
Simbel was abuzz with Ramses fever this week as the sun’s rays penetrated
through his temple to illuminate the pharaoh’s face 200 years after its
discovery. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
A
crowd of over 4,000 people descended on Abu Simbel 280km south of Aswan on
Wednesday to witness a phenomenon that only takes place twice a year. On 22
February and 22 October every year, the sun’s rays travel through the Temple of
Ramses II at Abu Simbel to illuminate the face of a statue of the pharaoh.
Despite
the cold weather, visitors stayed awake all night waiting for the sunrise,
entertained by a musical troupe performing Nubian folkloric songs and dances as
well as other troupes from Indonesia, Greece and India.
The
atmosphere was joyous, as hibiscus and tamarind drinks were sampled along with
stuffed dates served on large, coloured bamboo plates. The sound of music
filled the dry night air, as women, men, boys, and girls in colourful Nubian
garb danced to the rhythm of the duf, a kind of tambourine, while other foreign
dancers in traditional costumes danced to their music.
Archaeological
chief inspector Hossam Aboud said the celebrations took place every year and
that people from neighbouring villages often flocked to Abu Simbel to attend.
According to Aboud, couples have even been known to plan their weddings on the
day. One couple had chosen to have their wedding ceremony within the temple
itself, he said.
Beit
Fekry, the house of a Nubian citizen called Fekry, was also buzzing with people
who had come to celebrate the sun’s alignment in their own way. They danced to
Nubian music and moved in rows backwards and forwards.
At
3am, people began to reserve their seats at the foot of the monumental temple. At
6:25am, the sun struck the innermost wall of the temple’s sanctuary,
illuminating images of the right arm of the god Re-Horakhti, the face of Ramses
II, and the right shoulder of the god Amun-Re, leaving only the god Ptah in
darkness. Twenty minutes later, the temple was dark again.
Afterwards,
a Swiss tourist who had come to witness the festival and celebrate 200 years
since Abu Simbel’s discovery told Al-Ahram Weekly that although the event was
“great it was also difficult because people had to position themselves so as
not to obstruct the sun’s rays and move quickly so that others could see.” He
said he had been so wrapped up in being careful that he had almost not been
able to see the event.
Mahmoud
Afifi, head of the Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Department at the Ministry of
Antiquities, said people sometimes wrongly confused the event with Ramses II’s
coronation or birth, while it was actually the way the ancient Egyptians
identified the beginning of summer and winter in order to alert farmers to the
start of the cultivation season or harvest.
The
two Abu Simbel Temples were built by Ramses II (1279-1213 BCE) to demonstrate
his political clout and divine backing to the ancient Nubians. On each side of
the main temple, carved into a sandstone cliff overlooking the Nile’s second
cataract, sits a pair of colossal statues of the pharaoh.
Though
the statues have been damaged in earthquakes since their construction, they
remain an awe-inspiring, tremendous sight. The temple is aligned to face the
east, and above the entrance sits a niche with a representation of Re-Horakhti,
an aspect of the sun god.
In
the early 1960s the temple was moved to higher ground, a task requiring
considerable international resources, when the building of the Aswan High Dam
caused Lake Nasser to fill and inundate the area. For this reason, the sun now
strikes a day later than originally planned, though the event itself is no less
stunning.
This
year, the event also marks the celebration of 200 years since the discovery of
the Abu Simbel Temples by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, who died
shortly after his discovery, and his colleague Italian explorer Giovanni
Belzoni.
To
highlight this in advance of the gala ceremony to be held in October, the
ministry organised a photographic exhibition in the area’s visitor centre that
related the history of the temples since their discovery in 1817. The
exhibition was inaugurated by ministers of culture Helmi Al-Namnam and of
antiquities Khaled El-Enany.
Hisham
Al-Leithi, head of the Antiquities Registration Centre, told the Weekly that
the exhibition put on show a collection of 50 vintage photographs showing the
temples covered with sand, while others showed their excavation. Other
photographs showed the salvage operation of the temples in the 1960s and their
relocation and reconstruction at their current location in the desert on a
65-metre artificial hill above the High Dam to protect them from the waters of
Lake Nasser.... READ MORE.
Head
of First Aid Conservation at the Grand Egyptian Museum Eissa Zidan said the
team extracted a water sample where the statue was found and determined that
the water was neutral to alkaline. 
