When I last visited Anu Simbel in 2004, it was imposible to take photos of the inner sanctuary.
Fortunately, I had already done so 12 years earlier.
In the sanctuary there four seated statues of Amun, Ra-Harakhty, Ptah, and Ramesses.
The temple was constructed in such a way that the sun shines directly on 3 of the statues during two days of the year only the statue of Ptah - the god of darkness - remains in the shadow.
More pictures from Abu Simbel.
There are many theories regarding the purpose of these lines. Were they built for the gods to see? Or for shamans who "flew" over them in drug induced dreams? Or did their creators already have means to actually leave the ground, such as balloons? In any case, from the ground there hardly is anything to see: the area is mostly flat and the figures are of a size that makes it impossible to see them whole from this perspective. From an airplane, however, they are clearly distinguishable. There are a monkey, a spider, a colibri, even a human figure (often ...
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October 16th, 2007 at 2:12 am
Very impressive the way they have constructed the temple.