Latest / Ramses the Great: Egypt's Most Powerful Pharaoh — Fexingo History / Abu Simbel: Ramses' Sun Temple Carved for Eternity
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Ramses the Great's building projects — his capital at Per-Ramesses, his mortuary temple the Ramesseum, his additions at Karnak — but there's one monument that really stands out as his ultimate statement of power. Luna: You mean Abu Simbel. Lucas: Exactly. The two temples carved into the cliffs of Nubia, right on the border of what was then Egyptian-controlled Kush. They weren't just temples — they were a declaration of dominion. Lucas: The great temple is dedicated to Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, and Amun, but really it's all about Ramses himself. The four colossal seated statues at the facade are each about 20 meters tall — that's 65 feet — and they're all Ramses. People arriving by boat on the Nile would see them from miles away. Luna: It must have been intimidating if you were a Nubian chieftain coming to pay tribute. Lucas: That was the idea. But the real genius is inside. The temple is designed so that twice a year — on February 22 and October 22 — the rising sun shines all the way through the hypostyle hall and into the inner sanctuary, illuminating the statues of the gods there. Except for one. Luna: Which one doesn't get lit? Lucas: Ptah, the god of craftsmen. He was associated with the underworld, so they left him in darkness. The other three — Ra-Horakhty, Amun, and the deified Ramses — get bathed in sunlight. It's an incredible piece of engineering and astronomy. Luna: It's amazing how much thought went into these structures. It reminds me of why we love exploring history like this. And we're able to do it ad-free because of listeners like you. Lucas: Yeah, we deliberately don't run ads on these episodes. If you want to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a small way to keep the show going. Luna: And it means we can spend time on details like this solar alignment without rushing to a commercial break. Lucas: Right. So back to the temples — Ramses also built a smaller one just north of the great temple, dedicated to the goddess Hathor and his chief wife Nefertari. It's almost unheard of for a pharaoh to build a temple for his queen, but here she's shown as Hathor herself, with statues of her as the goddess. Luna: That's a huge statement. Usually the queen is just a small figure beside the pharaoh, but here she's given equal architectural weight. Lucas: Exactly. The facade has six standing statues — four of Ramses and two of Nefertari — and they're all the same height. That's unprecedented. Inside, the scenes show Ramses smiting enemies while Nefertari stands by, again an unusual prominence. Lucas: So these temples stood for over 3,000 years, until the 1960s when the Aswan High Dam project threatened to flood the entire area under Lake Nasser. An international campaign led by UNESCO decided to move them, block by block. Luna: I've seen photos of that — it looks like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Lucas: It really was. They cut the temples into over a thousand blocks — some weighing 20 tons — and reassembled them on a cliff 200 meters away and 65 meters higher. And they spent years making sure the solar alignment was reproduced exactly. The whole operation took from 1964 to 1968. Luna: And they got the alignment right? The sun still hits at the same dates? Lucas: Yes, but there's a small glitch. Because the original site was precisely oriented, but the new site's angle is slightly off — the alignment now happens one day later. So on February 23 and October 23, thousands of people gather at Abu Simbel to see the sun illuminate the sanctuary. Lucas: It's a testament to both ancient and modern engineering. And it means that Ramses's grand statement still works — a temple that declares his godlike power, surviving the flood of progress. Luna: It makes you think how many other wonders would have been lost if not for that effort. Are there other temples that were moved? Lucas: Several smaller ones — like the Temple of Debod in Madrid, actually — but Abu Simbel is the crown jewel. And it's a story that ties Ramses's ambition to our own ability to preserve it. That's a pretty powerful connection.