Some more photos of Egypt

With Brenda out snorkeling and the other activity being one I also can't sensibly do (why I will explain in a later post), I am able to post some more photos. In a country as amazing as Egypt it is easy to take alot.

The photos that accompany today's post are of Edfu and Abu Simbel.

The temple at Edfu, dedicated to the god Horus, was started in around 250 BC and completed about 180 years later. Owing to it being shielded by mud brick walls and being extremely liberally covered with of sand in later years, it is one of the better preserved temples we visited.

The temples at Abu Simbel, like Philae, were relocated piece by piece to their current site to avoid inundation on the building of the high dam. Both temples were completed around 1250 BC in the time of Ramses II. The larger temple has four massive statues of Ramses II at its entrance. The second, much smaller, temple is dedicate to his wife but four of the six statues that mark its entrance are of Ramses II and only two of his wife. Given his habit of writing his name on everything, including statues and scenes dedicated to his father, it is not surprising that he is given pride of place in both temples. 

The interior of the temples are well preserved, in part due to sunlight almost never reaching into the temples. On the birth and coronation dates of Ramses II, the first rays of the days sunlight makes their way into the deepest part of the great temple, lighting up three of the four gods that are carved into the wall of the sanctuary.

Next time I will posts some photos of Karnak and Luxor Temple.