Egypt: Day 5
September 20, 2022
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Above: The Great Temple of Ramesses II, originally built 1264-1244 BC, at Abu Simbel.
1 shows when major monuments around the world were built.
2 shows the back entrance to the dome which houses the Temple of Ramesses II.
3 and 4 show us rounding the mountain to the two temples.
5 to 9 show the face of the Great Temple of Ramesses II (or Ramesses the Great), who reigned for 66 years, outliving many of his wives and children.
The temple was dedicated to the gods Ra (the sun god), Ptah (creator god, patron of craftsmen and sculptors), and Amun (god of the air and King
of the gods). The four large statues out front, all four of them are of Ramesses II ... so very modest. Really, the temple is dedicated to himself.
Each of the large statues has little statues of selected children and wives ... depicting: his chief wife, Nefertari; his queen mother Mut-Tuy; his first
two sons, Amun-her-khepeshef and Ramesses B; and his first six daughters: Bintanath, Baketmut, Nefertari, Meritamen, Nebettawy and Isetnofret.
Ramesses the Great reportedly had 67 wives and over 197 known children, as detailed in his Luxor tomb in the Valley of the Kings. In the center of
the temple face, above the entrance, is the falcon-headed god Ra, the sun god.
10 shows an 1880's photo of the Great Temple of Ramesses II, neglected still covered with a lot of sand even after cleanup had begun.
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