Museumegypt.        SINCE  2006

Among my best trips ever, within the Egyptian historical lands, was a trip to the Nubian Desert identified as The Golden Nile. It included all of the fantastic temples that Egypt built about three and half thousand years ago for the use of the ancient Egyptians and the Nubian tribes who were passing our borders .The nations so often called "Nubians " were bordering our southern provinces a lot of them were from north of Sudan or lower Nubia .The massive Egyptian desert between Egypt and Sudan had some famous routs of trade and the Nubians were dealers and suppliers of African goods and specially gold, therefore they had the title Nebu which means in the hieroglyphics the ones of gold. Lower Nubians and ancient Egyptians had always mutual relation in too many aspects including commerce and defense while middle and upper or southern Nubians in our intermediate periods started to be competitors. Generally the history of Nubia describes the Nubians to struggle against the wild nature, the droughts, the no unity and the continuous raiding and sacking between the Nubian tribes. Nubians generally had never created agricultural societies and were mostly gatherers and hunters. The earliest finds from Nubia is from its pre-historic or cave-people around 3000 BC and from some nomadic settlements who had a great interaction with the Egyptian civilization.


A Nubian as shown in the Egyptian carvings.




In the year 1960, the Egyptian government started to build it's new dam to fit with needs of the Egyptian industry and the sudden increase of the population .The cooperation between Ussr and Egypt resulted having the High-Dam built .The High-Dam is 111 m high from the bed of the river Nile, 3500 m in length and 1000 m in width, therefore it was counted the biggest dam ever been built during the sixties. Due to building the massive dam on the southern borders of Egypt an enormous lake was founded. Lake Nasser stretched between Egypt and Sudan with 500 km in length, 50 km in width and 60 m in depth. Nasser Lake which was created artificially was the reason beyond the rescue campaign launched by the unisco in the early sixties. The rescue campaign was a response to the call of Egyptian and Non-Egyptian archeological organizations and in some few years more than thirty countries worked together to save 22 ancient temples south dam from the reach of the lake. Unfortunately time did not permit saving them all so five were left behind.



The High-Dam memorial.








In less than a decade, the unisco succeeded to rescue and transfer 17 temples northward to their original location then had it all assembled in four sites which are Abu Simble, Amada, Wadi el seboa and Qaser Ibrim. Once the whole campaign succeeded, Egypt had another travel attraction added to its unique treasures. By the end of the eighties, Lake Nasser had started to catch the attention of archeologists, Egyptologists, Bird-watchers and environmentally concerned travelers. Due to uniqueness of nature in and around the lake ,it witnessed too many fishing competition as lake Nasser species of fish are extraordinary with their size "Nile – Perch can grow to 70 kg per fish" as well as giant Nile - crocodiles more than 8 m long are found. The actual reason behind the unusual size and fast growth that represent Lake Nasser creatures refer to the rich deposits of silt and minerals which is annually enhanced per each flood.

Sailing lake Nasser on board of Prince Abbass is the most enjoyable way to reach these temples . Prince Abbass is one of the most famous cruise-ships in lake Nasser and among the best ones in Egypt. This massive cruise- ship has unique features as it has larger cabins than other lake cruisers and giant deluxe suites ,also an outstanding design allow all cabins to enjoy the view with extra ordinary space in the surroundings of each , a large dining room and an impressive lounge- bar, a smart ship-manager and a qualified crew. On my last trip we had done the four-night itinerary on Prince Abbass and we all enjoyed it so much.


Prince Abbas





A professional Ship-Manager.Mr Naser.



Ship-Manager assistant.Mr Wael


Friendly crew






Our first visit was to kalabesha temples ,we sailed early morning, Tuesday to kalabesha site where we could reach three main temples. All of it were transferred miles northward to original location therefore The new kalabesha had become the nearest site to the high dam. It's main temple was saved by West-Germany between 1961-1963 as they dismantled the whole temple into 13000 blocks then assembled the whole temple in a new spot . Originally The current temple was built during the 18th dynasty which is around 1400 BC, as we can read some royal names belong to that dynasty such as the cartouche of Amenhotep ll, while the rest of the main temple dates back to the Greek and the Roman dynasty . The foundations of kalabesha dates back to the old kingdom which is around 2600 BC. The outer-gate or the pylon was most probably founded by Octavian Augustus as we can spot the emperors names in most of the sanctuary .The Hypostyle hall or the colonnade is famous of it's columns with their unique composite capitals which each of it is different with capital style. The temple was dedicated to large number of Egyptian gods who had been worshiped by both Egyptians and Nubians including god Merwel or Mandulis who was worshiped by Nubians of Egypt as the sun-god RA and in some other cases was associated with Horus .


Kalabesha Temple.



Kalabesha .The pillared Hall.



Isis and Merwel


Merwel.a matching Nubian god to Ra.

Temple of Kalabesha was a basic station for the Egyptians and the Non-Egyptians on their way to accomplish the pilgrimage to Isis temple at Philae then passing the other Egyptian temples such as Komombow and Edfu while heading to the holy-land of Abydus. Many of these pilgrims used to leave their foot-prints on these holy temples to sign to their visit, while some others used to incise their texts and some graffiti on these temples. Also early Copts or Christians of Egypt while Roman torture ,had sheltered in most of the deserted temples and tombs as we can see their marks on walls of Kalabesha as they converted some parts of the temple to a church.


A graffiti of a coptic saint on a horse.



A sanctuary for A coptic Church.Kalabesha.



Cave-Age Nubia.Gazelles and antelopes



Cave-Age Nubia.A pair of giraffes




The second temple at Kalabesha site is Bait El Wali Temple which is much older as it dates back to 1200 BC, the 19th dynasty, specifically to the reign of king Ramasess ll .The title of the temple is Arabic and means house of the saint which indicates to the fact that the Copts had been using it as a monastery for a long time as they incised their crosses on it's walls. On the gate of Bait El Wali we could see next to the titles of Ramasess ll , a praise to king Senusert l as being him the first conqueror to Nubia in 1900 BC.


A praise to king SenusertI "May the sun rise on his soul in the Orion"



King Ramasses is smashing an Asian fortress.

As it is so traditional to Ramasess ll , the temple of Bait El Wali represents all of victories of Egypt over the Hittites and the Nubians in general . Among the most interesting carvings some are found on walls of the ruined hall of pillars where you see the victorious pharaoh is smiting some of his enemies in their fort and on the opposite wall the pharaoh is depicted while receiving spoils of war from Nubian delegations. The rest of carvings are about offerings of gods and most of it are found in the inner part of the temple.


The chapel of Qertacy

Our third stop at Kalabesha was to view a Roman chapel known as chapel of Qertacy . This chapel which is around 2000 years old, has a lot of resemblance to what the Roman emperor Trojan built at Philae temple except the Hathoric columns which are special feature for Qertacy chapel . Then we passed the cancer tropic while sailing to Wadi EL Sebuaa.

Old Prince Abbas.



The rooming list of the first passangers on old Prince Abbas for Thomas cook.



Reception.


Lounge bar


A royal suite


A cabin



We started our visit to Wadi El Sebuaa at morning of Wednesday. New Wadi El Sebuaa is a recent site, as the original was covered with lake Nasser . Wadi El Sebuaa has three main temples, the first and the main was built by king Ramasess ll and with many similarities to most of his temples as it shows all of his famous wars, in addition to the general offering scenes. The most outstanding feature for Wadi El Sebuaa is the avenue of sphinxes that bear the facial features of the pharaoh himself .The title of the temple had been inspired to locals from that avenue as it means the valley of lions .This temple is carved out of sandstone as most of the temples of the Nubian desert and also had been used later by the Copts who left their graffiti and their crosses . An interesting scene made on blaster found at the sanctuary, represents Saint Peter while being surrounded by the ancient carvings and the cartouche of king Ramasses ll.


Saint Peter with the cartouch of Ramasses II beside.





The avenue of sphinxes.


The Pylon of Dakka.


A damaged statue for Ramasses II it used to be a pair fronting the pylon.

Then we walked the distance between temple of Wadi El Sebuaa and our second temple here which is called the temple of Dakka. The recent title for this temple was created by the Nubians who used to live around and it meant "scorpion". The temple keeps it's unique pylon which is the highest ever you can find in this area of Egypt, the pylon, most probably was rebuilt by the Romans. The open-court is totally ruined while the interior is well preserved. The outermost hall was built by the early Greek dynasty while the inside halls and rooms were founded by a Nubian dynasty as we can read the cartouche of king Erkamen. The sanctuary was rebuilt by the Romans in so low standard. The temple was dedicated to goddess Tefenut and god Shu ,in addition to Merwel and different other gods. While our third temple for this morning was El Mohareq temple which was relocated by the Unesco next to Dakka. The temple was originally built by the Greek dynasty and dedicated to god Serapies ,then was restored by the Romans. The Title of the temple means "the burnt one" and may that refer to the war between the Romans and the Nubians where the second team burnt the temple. El Mohareq temple was our last visit at Wadi El Sebuaa . then we never missed the wonderful sunset at the hills of this nice area of Egypt. Then Prince Abbas contioued it's sailing towards Amada.

View Dakka Temple.


Cartouch of king Erkamun at Dakka.


God Shu and Goddess Tefnut at Dakka temple.


The Mouhareq temple.




A unique sunset

We started our tour on Wednesday afternoon ,crossing the lake to the shore where we could spot three sites. The first was the oldest among them as it dates back to the reign of both kings, Tutmoses lll and his son Amunhotep ll which is around 1400 BC. The temple of Amada was rescued by the French team once they had come up with a sophisticated plan to transfer the temple before the water to reach. First of all they built a track meanwhile , they had sawn the temple up from the base then managed to chain and left over a flat car in order to drag it across that track. They were able to bull it at least for 1.6 KM ,then it took the lake less than three month to cover the original site. Amada temple is an outstanding one with it's vivid colours and scenes as well as the amount of the Nubian graffiti which represent their tribes and soldiers on their way to fight the Roman garrisons northward. In addition to the interesting offering scenes.





Temple Of Amada.Thutmoses III in the presence Of god Rahorakhat.


Temple Of Amada.King Thutmoses III presents the Heb-Sed ceremony.

The second temple at Amada site was El Derr which was built by king Ramasess ll, around 1300 BC. El Derr is an exact miniature of the great Abu Simble, where you see the battle scenes and the typical offering scenes.


The Derr Temple.


The Holy tree where god Thot writes the family names of the king on it's leaves.


Derr temple. Kneeling Ramasses receives the Heb-Sed sign of throne renewal.

Derr. Ramasses presents flowers to the gods

Presenting the sign of justice to god Amun

The divine marriage boat

Our last visit at Amada site was to the tomb of penth "pentu". Pentu was a high official appointed at that area by king Ramsess vl and was rewarded by the king two precious silver vases.

Tomb of Penut

Intact scenes with vivid colours

Offerings to Penut

A wonderful sunset.

Then we couldn't miss the wonderful sunset at the hills of this nice area of Egypt. Then Prince Abbas moored the whole night at Amada site.

On Thursday morning Prince Abbas had moored next to Qaser Ipriem and we all assembled at the top deck in order to watch that unique site.

Qaser Ipriem used to be a hill about seventy meters high before Lake Nasser to surround and turn to an island. The title of the site means the primer palace; Ipriem was derived from the Latin word prime while Qaser is the Arabic word for palace. Qaser Ipriem area was among the most fertile areas of lower-Nubia as the Nile used to flow next where it is found and it's soil used to be enriched by the annual floods ,that allowed It's dwellers to benefit from these features and supply the countless travelers and pilgrims all facilities required from accommodation , food, drinks and so on. Qaser Ipriem's hill was the primary signal to Egypt for all pilgrims and travelers and due to that it used to have all means of comfort and conveyance to attract all caravans and all fortification. We are still able to see the ruins of the Nubian fortress which is around 700 BC and the royal chapels of the 18 &19 dynasties which are between 1400 & 1300 BC beside the Coptic cathedral which was built after 500 AD. Most of the finds of Qaser Ipriem are displayed at both the Nubia museum and at the Coptic museum. Then prince Abbas continued sailing to Abu Simble site.

Before midday everybody almost gathered on the top deck to attend the charming approach to the great site of Abu Simble then Prince Abbas played a very impressive music belongs to Vangelis. Nothing was much more impressive in our travels than the approach to Abu Simble



The Great Abu Simble and the Small Abu Simble were both saved by the UNESCO as well as by many countries which supported Egypt and the human heritage. The Great Abu Simble was transferred between 1964-1968 to a much suitable spot, enough high from Nasser lake. Originally the great temple was carved out of sandstone hill exceeds 45 m in height which the lake could cover all within few years .The UNESCO experts had to build a surrounding coffer-dam around the two temples which two concrete domes on the new locations then both temples were dismantled and assembled within these four years. While searching for perfect location for the great temple the UNESCO organization had the challenge of trying to keep the unique alignment with the sun which the great Abu Simble had been to have. The ancient Egyptians had to study where to find mathematically and astronomically a certain spot where it can receive the rays twice a year to shine on the face king Ramesses II on both occasions his birthday and his coronation. That phenomenon used be witnessed on the 21of February and on 21of October yearly before to be moved as the sun used to reach innermost room of the temple across the pillared halls and the vestibules to through it light on the statue of king which is among the four statues of the holy of holies at sunrise twice a year. While all efforts and the high budget "exceeded 50 millions USD" presented by most of the world they could not find the correct angle to keep the alignment or the original dates so they missed a day from each and became the 22second from each month.
The giant Abu Simble had a great impact on our southern neighbors who had never seen such as a gigantic structure ever even they believed king Ramsess to be no man his temple is a creation of god therefore that pharaoh had been deified over there.

We enjoyed the visit to Abu Simble and also we attended its famous sound and light show. Then on morning of the following day we flew to Cairo to continue our tripe for another four nights.

Approaching Abu simble on board Prince Abbas.

The holy of the holies.The king next to the gods

The king and a Nubian warrior.

One of the lions that accompany the king in his wars.

The Nu jars of offerings

Amun and Mut

Captives. The great temple

Queen Nefertari.The small temple

A Hathoric pillar

Goddess Hathor

Ramesses II name


Seth and Horus,coronating the king

The small temple of Nefertari.
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