It was a bright and early wakeup call at 5 a.m. and we left the boat at 5:30 a.m. and caught a 7 a.m. flight to Abu Simbel to the see the Ramses Temples. One of the temples was made for him. He was making himself a god and this was a temple to him. There were 4 huge colossal images of him on the outside, 8 huge ones of himself on the inside. In the holy of holies room there were four figures which was different than anything we had seen- three of them were gods that everyone worshiped and one was of him. They don’t know how well it went over that he had made himself not just god and pharaoh/ half and half but made himself a full god- one that people should worship. But there is no record of people worshiping Ramses after his reign. He did reign for 67 years, very very long for a Pharoah. Hence, there are so many temples and images constructed of him and by him. His favorite wife of the 24 he had was his second wife Neffertari (different than Neffertiti- who was a pharaoh) He built a temple next door to his with 6 colossal images on the outside of the temple: 4 of Ramses and 2 of Nefertari. Inside there are several depictions of Neffertari that captured her beauty and it is a very feminine temple since there are many images of the female cow god of fertility and low and health.
These temples were buried in sand and had been uncovered in the early 1800s. All the images are so well preserved and the colors and engravings are in incredible shape and haven’t been defaced by other religious sects since they were buried in sand. It is a spectacular temple with the most amazingly interact structure of anything in my opinion in Egypt. They also have all their roofs intact, which was because they were built out of the mountain so it is all cut from the mountain and so nothing had caved in. To move the whole structure took 4 years, which still seems amazing. It moved it just up from where it would have been buried under the water. It stands still looking East so that on certain days of the year the sunrise shines through the entry of the temple and shines on the figures in their sacred room/holy of holies.
These temples were buried in sand and had been uncovered in the early 1800s. All the images are so well preserved and the colors and engravings are in incredible shape and haven’t been defaced by other religious sects since they were buried in sand. It is a spectacular temple with the most amazingly interact structure of anything in my opinion in Egypt. They also have all their roofs intact, which was because they were built out of the mountain so it is all cut from the mountain and so nothing had caved in. To move the whole structure took 4 years, which still seems amazing. It moved it just up from where it would have been buried under the water. It stands still looking East so that on certain days of the year the sunrise shines through the entry of the temple and shines on the figures in their sacred room/holy of holies.
After the temples we made our way through the haggling in the market place outside the temples to our driver and back to the airport and back to Aswan. This afternoon we will fly back to Cairo and to the Marriott where we will rest up and then attack the pyramids tomorrow. Hope to upload some photos tonight since the internet on the ship was SO slow could hardly upload just our written blog. Kendall had trouble uploading some of her work last night and got in like 1 minute before the cutoff! Thank heavens. Today is slow in Egypt because it is their Sabbath. Tomorrow is their day off and then Sunday is the start of the work week. So unfortunately we missed church again. The only Mormon church in Egypt is in Cairo and it is so small and meets on Friday mornings, to be in sync with the Sabbath in Egypt. Can’t wait to go to church when we get home. Have missed it. But it’s been nice reading scriptures and saying family prayers as a family this week with everyone together. Grateful for this fun and educational experience with my family.
After flying to Cairo we arrived at the Marriott. We were all a bit starving honestly and I just wanted some normal food. We had a lot of Egyptian style food on our cruise- lots of rice and meaty sauces and cucumber salads and tomatoes and onions. We also had just a roll for breakfast and a slice of pizza and we had been up and going for 11 hours so Syd and I decided we needed cheeseburgers!!! Kendall and Sam joined us and Sam ate really healthy with a chicken caesar wrap and Kendall had a healthy salmon sandwich and Syd and I ordered huge cheeseburgers on pretzel rolls. NO regrets. It was super tasty and hit the spot. We were all back. Nathan joined us after his Egyptian shave upstairs in some barber shop. They gave him the dental floss treatment where they take what looks like floss between their fingers and roll and pull out unusual hairs on your face...hahaha. Kendall, Nate and Sam went to the pool to swim and hot tub and Syd and I went to explore a little before going back to the room. The 2nd floor of the hotel is truly a palace. This hotel was originally a hotel built 200 years ago for visiting princess that was coming from Turkey to this country. The royal ballrooms are still stunning and hold brilliant chandeliers and mirrors and moorish influenced arches and architecture. The ballrooms were so beautiful and regal entry ways and salons. We wandered all around what seemed like a fabulous French or English castle. There were another few people with us and we met up with them in this awesome library bar that the grand entry led to, another spot we scoped out which was so handsome and amazing. Like Syd said it was like Hemmingway should pop out of the woodwork.
On our exploration we met a woman that was also walking around the hotel with some friends. In the library area we spoke with her. She was so friendly. Syd and I decided she was an Egyptian Grandma Nancy. She was fascinating and animated and was all dolled up and accessorized. Everyone seemed to know her. I asked if she came her frequently. She said she was married here, she has been here many times but she is rather famous in her country. We asked to explain which she willingly offered that she was the founder of women's soccer in Egypt. She housed in her own home and trained the first women's soccer team and got soccer for women in the country of Egypt. She is part of FIFA and she just came back from an official Egyptian visit as a dignitary with the UN. She was awesome. After talking to her as he talked about how she had walked in the demonstration of 30 million people that ousted the last president that the country hated. That they overthrew him out of government after he turned out to be a right winged extremist that threatened and future of Egypt. She said they all love, and I have heard this from every Egyptian, their new president. Anyhow, she was so so interesting and she talked about being a ref for FIFA and her story. She said we could check it out online Her name is Sahar El Hawary. She was a football ref and mother of women's soccer in Egypt. She was in a great documentary about women in Africa made for the 2010 World Cup in Africa. You can google the parts of the movie she is in and her story. "Africa on the Move. A Women's World" then Sahara El Hawary. Syd and I were so excited how our evening turned out. She insisted on giving us all her info so we could call her. She was so great to meet and we came right back up after and googled her and watched her film. She is so fascinating.
On our exploration we met a woman that was also walking around the hotel with some friends. In the library area we spoke with her. She was so friendly. Syd and I decided she was an Egyptian Grandma Nancy. She was fascinating and animated and was all dolled up and accessorized. Everyone seemed to know her. I asked if she came her frequently. She said she was married here, she has been here many times but she is rather famous in her country. We asked to explain which she willingly offered that she was the founder of women's soccer in Egypt. She housed in her own home and trained the first women's soccer team and got soccer for women in the country of Egypt. She is part of FIFA and she just came back from an official Egyptian visit as a dignitary with the UN. She was awesome. After talking to her as he talked about how she had walked in the demonstration of 30 million people that ousted the last president that the country hated. That they overthrew him out of government after he turned out to be a right winged extremist that threatened and future of Egypt. She said they all love, and I have heard this from every Egyptian, their new president. Anyhow, she was so so interesting and she talked about being a ref for FIFA and her story. She said we could check it out online Her name is Sahar El Hawary. She was a football ref and mother of women's soccer in Egypt. She was in a great documentary about women in Africa made for the 2010 World Cup in Africa. You can google the parts of the movie she is in and her story. "Africa on the Move. A Women's World" then Sahara El Hawary. Syd and I were so excited how our evening turned out. She insisted on giving us all her info so we could call her. She was so great to meet and we came right back up after and googled her and watched her film. She is so fascinating.
Well, falling asleep writing this so headed to bed. Home in just 8 days, crazy!!
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