The Temple of the Rising Sun : Video

The Temple of the Rising Sun : Video

The Nubian region of the Upper Nile has many ancient Egyptian monuments. The largest is the great temple of Abu Simbel.

The temple carved out of a rocky hill - was built by King Ramses the Second.

Egypt became a very powerful Kingdom under his reign during the 13th century BC.

He built the temple to show the might of his kingdom to the Nubian people hed had difficulty in putting them under Egyptian control.

The temple faced the threat of being submerged during the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s.
There was an outcry worldwide against the plan and steps were taken to save the site from submersion.

This resulted in a large-scale project involving 50 countries - led by UNESCO - to relocate the entire temple.

The temple was cut into 16,000 blocks for relocation.

No explosives were used.
The relocation project was successfully completed in 1968.

Its success led to the eventual adoption of the World Heritage Convention four years later.

Even though the temple was moved, its direction and position in relation to the sun was maintained.

The temple is 63 metres deep and dark inside.

There are statues of ancient Egyptian Gods along with a statue of Ramses the Second in the innermost part of the temple.

The King had deified himself.

Another ancient monument which had been submerged under the dam was also saved four years after the Abu Simbel relocation,

It was the Temple of Isis.

The Temple used to stand on a small island known as The Pearl of Nile.
It was relocated to another similar island.

The temple was built during the 4th century B.C.

Isis was believed to be a Goddess of eternal life and resurrection.

There is a carving of Isis breastfeeding her child on the wall of the inner temple.

Abu Simbel has the same angle it had in ancient times.

The same phenomenon occurs at dawn on every Spring and Autumn Equinox day.

At 6:29am

the first rays of sunlight stream through the temple,

To cast light on the statue of Ramses II.

The rising Sun is a symbol of resurrection.

The temple has been brought back to life.

The statue of Ramses the Second shines on