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Day
tour from Aswan to Abu Simbel
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Meet our Representative in Aswan to accompany you by private air-conditioned
car to travel to Abu Simbel, Arrive Abu Simbel then visit the two
temples at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the
world but their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in
itself. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion
in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam the Egyptian
Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world wide
appeal. During the salvage operation which began in 1964 and continued
until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 60 meters
up the sandstone cliff where they had been built more than 3,000 years
before. Here they were reassembled, in the exact same relationship
to each other and the sun, and covered with an artificial mountain.
Most of the joins in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts,
but inside the temples it is still possible to see where the blocks
were cut. You can also go inside the man made dome and see an exhibition
of photographs showing the different stages of the massive removal
project.
Abu Simbel was first reported by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813, when he
came over the mountain and only saw the facade of the great temple
as he was preparing to leave that area via the Nile. The two temples,
that of Ramesses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of
his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians
visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often
they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burckhardt found
them.. Drive back to Aswan & Transfer to your requested place
in Aswan { end of our Service }.
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