Abu Simbel
A faint hauntingly romantic echo on the winds of time. A sublime love affaire or a brutal Political Statement portraying the power of the Egyptian State in the hands of one of the ancient worlds most powerful men.
Two romantic temples symbolizing the affection of Ramesses the Great for his beautiful Nubian Great Wife Nefertari. Or a timeless message in stone warning Upper Egypt, Nubia and the Sudan to keep the peace, keep the mines open, pay tax and tribute and not to rock the felucca or face the might of the Egyptian State.
Perhaps a little of each. The romantic in me suggests the affaire. The smaller temple, dedicated to Hathor is a confection in stone. Perhaps a model of the Lady Nefertari herself, beautiful and discrete. An enigma perhaps. His a massive masterpiece in stone, huge, brutal, dominant. Collapsed by earthquake not long following completion in 1263 BC. Both rescued in the sixties by UNESCO in the face of rising waters backed up from the newly completed Assuan High Dam.
A feat worthy in itself, the Egyptian stone cutters, masons, and architectural designers must have looked down in grudging admiration as the twentieth century secured their great work from the waters..
We are going to romance the Son et Lumiere, and from there who knows.
Enjoy Abu Simbel at night.
Created August 10, 2007.
Who knows indeed. Barry Moore has contributed to Aegyptica with some interesting advice on noise processing on low light images, drill down into Abu Simbel and see for yourselves.
14 September 2007