Archaeologists Discover What's Inside the Temple of Abu Simbel

Well renowned in history as a great builder, ancient Egypt's art, culture, and architecture thrived under Ramesses II's reign. During his 66-year-long rule, he rebuilt entire cities, constructed the Hall of Karnak, and the great complex of Ramesseum. But nothing had been as awe-inspiring as the gigantic temples of Abu Simbel. Buried under centuries of sand, what is so unique about these temples? Today on Crunch, we will be talking about the special power associated with the sacred entrance of the Temple of Abu Simbel, which not only has a history of rediscovery, but also an episode of rescue. Built over the course of 20 years in the 13th century BC, the Temples of Abu Simbel are among the most spectacular ancient archaeological sites still standing today. One of the alluring aspects of the Abu Simbel temples was the inner sanctum of the Great Temple. In this sacred space, Ramesses assumed his place in the company of gods Amun, Ra, Ptah, and Ra Huakchi. The magical secret of the temple was that it was aligned in a fashion that twice a year, the rays of the sun would penetrate through the entrance 55 meters into the sanctuary and illuminate three of the statues with golden light. The statue of Ptah on the extreme right was kept in darkness, a possible reason being that he was a deity associated with the underworld. It is logical to assume that these specific dates, October 21st and February 21st, had some relation to a significant event. These dates were allegedly the king's birthday and coronation day, respectively. Although there is no direct evidence to support this, the location of the temple speaks for itself, explaining why it was considered special. But over the centuries, both the Nile and the desert sands imperceptibly shifted, and this temple remained unknown to the outside world until it was accidentally rediscovered by the Swiss explorer Jean-Louis Vercutte. The single entrance to the main temple is flanked by four enormous 66-foot-tall structures of the pharaoh. These gigantic sentinels watched over the incoming traffic from the south. They were undoubtedly designed as a warning, demonstrating the strength of the pharaoh. When the temple was discovered nearly two centuries ago, only one of the statue heads fronting the temple was completely above the sand. The one next to it had been broken off, possibly due to an earthquake, and of the other two, only the crowns could be seen. Enough sand was cleared away in 1817 by the pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities, Giovanni Belzoni, for the temple to be entered. On the inside, the sight of floor-to-ceiling hieroglyphics is a mesmerizing depiction of the various battles of Pharaoh Ramesses II. Much of the sculpture is dedicated to the Battle of Kaddish, in which the Egyptian king fought against the Hittites. It was one of the world's largest chariot battles, fought beside the Orontes River. This was a day of carnage as some 5,000 chariots charged into the fray, but there was no outright victor. Both sides claimed Kaddish as a triumph, and Ramesses had his temples festooned with celebratory reliefs. It's also one of the earliest known attempts at depicting motion in a still picture. Although a biased Egyptian version of the battle was recorded by Ramesses in his temples, a Hittite version excavated at Ogatskoy has enabled a truer assessment of the battle. The battle led to the world's first recorded peace treaty. The Egyptian government's decision in 1954 to construct the Aswan High Dam in order to harness the power of the Nile marked the beginning of a threat. If there were no immediate actions taken, over 20 ancient monuments would have been flooded by the resulting lake. The largest and most important were those at Abu Simbel. The marvelous temple would just perish beneath the waves. Gearing up to preserve the Nubian archaeological heritage, UNESCO organized an international conference in 1959. The first and most difficult part of the project was relocating the twin temples at Abu Simbel. The issue was that the complex, a man-made marvel weighing in at a quarter of a million tons in total, had been carved directly into the face of a cliff. Moving it would test the limits of the technology available at the time. Ideas for dealing with this enormously risky project fired the imagination of engineers all over the world. Experts from over 50 nations put their heads together to find the best way to save the temple. The first proposal involved creating a gigantic aquarium around the temples. It would have observation galleries to allow spectators above to peer down onto the submerged monument. And to get a closer view, elevators would shuttle underwater. But the biggest problem with this approach was that the temple was hewn out of the sandstone cliff, which is quite porous. Over time, the water would eventually erode the stone, causing the temple to crumble. So how could they preserve this ancient structure? The only way to save the temples was to move them. They considered raising the temples in one piece gradually on hydraulic jacks until they were above the waterline. That too was rejected as the risk was enormous. Nothing this heavy had ever been moved before. Just imagine, if any of the jacks would have failed, the result would have been catastrophic. The other idea was the most practical, but also the least appealing. To cut the temple up into small sections for the big move. That sounds like a nightmare for an archaeologist. Yet they had to go forward with this approach to save the temple. In early 1964, an international team of 2,000 engineers and contractors from Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, and Egypt began the monumental task of dismantling Abu Simbel. But actually, slicing Abu Simbel into pieces was an incredibly tough challenge. Definitely not a piece of cake. The imposing facade of Abu Simbel's temple stood approximately 108 feet tall. Hidden behind the entrance was a series of chambers that ran deep into the heart of the mountain. Colossal standing statues of the king lined the main hall, and pillars adorned with intricate military artworks supported the ceiling painted with winged vultures. It was very tricky to find suitable locations for the cuts in order not to disturb the valuable hieroglyphics. All of these gorgeously painted walls and ceilings had to be meticulously cut by hand into movable blocks. Thousands of workers toiled day and night for nine months to complete the cutting operations. The two temples were cut into about 2,000 huge blocks, each weighing about It was now time to relocate these not-so-small sections to their new home and reassemble them like Lego blocks. The new site was about 200 meters further inland and 65 meters higher up. An artificial hill made from a concrete dome was covered with 330,000 cubic meters of rock to resemble a natural stony hill against which the temple stood at the original site. The blocks were put back into position piece by piece with extreme precision. Up to a level of precision, it was as real as it was artificial. Even the fallen pieces of the statue of Ramses that sits on the left of the entrance were positioned exactly as before. But after relocation, would Abu Simbel continue to greet the sunrise twice a year? When the engineers planned the relocation of Abu Simbel, they also had to be mindful of this 3,000-year-old memorial not losing its peculiarity. Relocation work was completed on the 22nd of September 1968, and everyone waited anxiously for the morning of October the 22nd as the relocation was going to delay the event by a day. A month later, when the sun rose that day, the faces of Ramses, Ra, and Amun were illuminated leaving Ptah in the dark. Mission accomplished! Now, the crowd of locals and Egyptians from all over the country along with international visitors gather together before sunrise outside the temple on the 22nd of February and the 22nd of October every year to celebrate the Sun Festival. So, when are you planning to visit Abu Simbel to witness this spectacle for yourself? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for watching Crunch! If you liked the video, give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel if you haven't already. Don't forget to hit that bell icon to get notified whenever we upload a new video.