Abu Simbel Temples, Aswan High Dam & Lake Nasser

From Wikipedia: "Abu Simbel ... is a village in the Egyptian part of Nubia, about 240 kilometers southwest of Aswan and near the border with Sudan. As of 2012, it has about 2600 inhabitants. It is best known as the site of the Abu Simbel temples, which were built by King Ramses II.

"In the past, Abu Simbel was located on the west bank of the Nile between the first and second Cataracts of the Nile. ... Today both cataracts near Aswan and Wadi Halfa are covered by Lake Nasser, which is named after Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian president from 1954 to 1970. At the time of Ramses II, the southern border of the realm of the Pharaohs was located near the two cataracts. The construction of the Abu Simbel temple compound there was meant to demonstrate the power and eternal supremacy of Egypt with respect to the tributary Nubia."

Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser

The Great Abu Simbel Temple. From Wikipedia: "The 66-foot (20-metre) seated figures of Ramses are set against the recessed face of the cliff, two on either side of the entrance to the main temple. Carved around their feet are small figures representing Ramses’ children, his queen, Nefertari, and his mother, Muttuy."

The Small Abu Simbel Temple, dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramses' II's chief consort, Nefertari.

A few of the many temple interior reliefs

Probably Nubian captives

Nubian Museum

The highlight of our day in Aswan was the Nubian Museum. The sculptures were striking, the dioramas even more so. And the evening was capped off by a spectacular sunset.

Philae Temple

From Wikipedia: "Philae is an island in the reservoir of the Aswan Low Dam, downstream of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Philae was originally located near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt and was the site of an Egyptian temple complex. These rapids and the surrounding area have been variously flooded since the initial construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902.[2] The temple complex was dismantled and moved to nearby Agilkia Island as part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign project, protecting this and other complexes before the 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam. The hieroglyphic reliefs of the temple complex are being studied and published by the Philae Temple Text Project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna."

One of the many boats waiting to take tourists from dockside to the island.

The reliefs above and below strike me as being ancient Greek rather than Egyptian.

Panoramic view from the Philae Pylon, which had just opened when we arrived.

Morning Scenes on the Nile at Aswan

October 17: We were docked, along with many other cruise boats, on the Nile at Aswan. Here are some scenes that caught my attention before we took off on our day's excursions.

Cobania Island

In the late afternoon, after experiencing Kom Ombo, we visited a village on Cobania Island in the middle of the Nile. Nice kids and colorful walls, as usual.

Kom Ombo Temple

October 16, day 8 of our tour of the treasures of Egyptian antiquities. A major part of the day was spent at the Temple of Kom Ombo - an unusual double temple with one side dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god, and the other to Horus the falcon god. I was particularly impressed here with the smoothness and precision of the carvings, perhaps due as much to the quality of the stone as the skill of the carvers.

It was common for the carvings dedicated to previous pharaohs to be defaced by the new one, but rarely (in the limited sample that we've seen) is the defacing so smooth and limited.