Famous Temples in Nubia

The rescue of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archaeologists, engineers, and heavy equipment operators.

The work began by carefully cutting the two temples into large blocks (up to 30 tons, an average of 20 tons), and they were sifted and re-installed again in a new site at a height of 65 meters, 200 meters from the surface of the lake water, in one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history.

The Great Temple of Abu Simbel is dedicated to the worship of Ra, Hur sister, Ptah, and Amun, the three largest deities in the Egyptian state at that time.

The façade of the great temple consists of four huge statues of Ramses II, each height is 20 meters. The temple was designed to illuminate the sun on the face of the Ramses statue, which is located in the Holy of Holies inside the temple at sunrise.

It is located to the north of the Temple of Ramses II, the small temple of his wife Nefertari and they are opposite each other, separated only by a small valley. The work to move the two temples took nearly six years, to be rebuilt at a location 64 meters higher.

The rest of the Nubian temples that were saved, in order of their distance from Aswan Governorate:

• The Temple of Daboud: It is located 20 kilometers south of the Aswan Reservoir, and was built by King Azkhar Amun, one of the kings of the state of Meroe, in the Egyptian style. Later, King Ptolemy III and some Roman emperors added to it, and it consists of three gates, followed by an open courtyard, then two corridors, and ends in the Holy of Holies, which contains a granite sarcophagus.

• The Temple of Kartasi: This small temple is located 45 kilometers south of the Aswan Reservoir. It is considered one of the most beautiful temples in Lower Nubia, and dates back to the Roman era and most of its parts were destroyed in the twentieth century. It is distinguished by the presence of many sculptures in some of its parts, and there is a Roman fortress near it, the walls surrounding it are still standing.

• Taqa Temple: It is located near the “Temple of Kartasi,” and until the year 1880 AD there were two temples; One of them completely disappeared, and the other remained standing, which is a small temple built on a high foundation.

• Kalabsha Temple: It is the largest temple built in Lower Nubia, about 75 km from the Aswan Reservoir. It was built during the reign of King "Amenhotep II" in the 15th century BC, and was rebuilt later by the Roman Emperor "Augustus" in 30 BC. It consists of a huge gate, an open courtyard, a colonnade and an inner room, and the temple building is surrounded on the outside by a wall on the right side, an external part carved into the rock leading to the Nile.

In the southeast corner of the wall there is the "Birth House" of the deity Isis, and a staircase leads to the roof and from it to the shrine of the god Osiris.

Most of the decorative images in this courtyard are found on the inner walls of the temple, on the front of the entrance, the back wall, and the outer rooms of the exposed colonnade.

• Bayt al-Wali Temple: This temple is located to the northwest of the “Kalabsha” temple, and it is one of the six temples that Ramses II carved into the rock in Nubia. It consists of a front courtyard constructed of stones, then a colonnade hall and the Holy of Holies, both of which are carved into the rock. And this temple was converted into a church in the Christian era

• Dandour Temple: It is located on the western bank of the Nile, 78 km south of Aswan.

It was built by Emperor Augustus in 30 BC.

Its main gate, is followed by the temple, and one of the most important texts recorded on its walls is a text written in the Coptic language narrating the conversion of this temple into a Christian church in 577 AD.

• Jurf Hussein Temple: It is located 90 km south of Aswan, and it is the second temple of King Ramses II carved into the rock, and its design is similar to the temples of this Pharaoh.

• Dakka Temple: It is considered one of the major temples in Nubia, and it is located 107 km south of Aswan. This temple was discovered in 1963 AD during the pert of the Holy Rams Road of the temple of Dakka.

So, the lost temple all emerged suddenly under the sand after being buried under the stones of the Dakka temple itself for more than two thousand years.

Thutmose III had dedicated it to the god Horus to guard the road leading to the gold mines in this spot, and it was later turned into a church in the Christian era.

Kuban Temple: This historical castle is located 110 km south of the reservoir of Aswan and was established in the Middle Kingdom from ancient Egypt to guard the roads leading to the gold mines in reservoir overwhelmed this castle and its walls were destroyed, leaving only a few parts of stone.

• Wadi El Seboue 'Temple: It is located 150 km south of the Aswan High Dam, and it is the third temple built by King Ramses II in Nubia. It was converted into a Christian church and its walls were painted with a thick layer of stucco. It is decorated with many drawings characterized by preservation of their details and bright colors, including pictures of Saint Peter.

In 1963 AD, the Coptic (Vaaz) that was used in the consecration ceremonies that converted this temple into a Christian church was found buried in front of the Christian altar.

*Amda Temple: This temple is located at a distance of 185 kilometers south of the Aswan Reservoir, and it is the oldest existing temples in Nubia, as it was built by Thutmose III, and added by his son Amenhotep II and after him Thutmose IV.

King Seti I also ordered its restoration and repair after it was destroyed by Akhenaten when he destroyed all the temples that were consecrated to the worship of Amun.

And this temple was converted into a Christian church whose walls were painted with white lime to hide the Egyptian pictures and inscriptions.

It was difficult to dismantle the temple into parts to transport it so it was moved was followed by the same method of moving the buildings on the rails one block after the Egyptian government dismantled the temple’s façade, to be moved for a distance of 2,600 meters to a height of 65 meters.

• Al-Durr Temple: It is located 200 km to the south of the Aswan Dam. It is the fourth temple of King Ramses II in the rocks.

• Qasr Ibrim Castle: The castle is located 200 feet from the surface of the Nile, 35 miles north of Abu Simbel. It is a castle, a cemetery and a theater of the events of 35 centuries.

This castle played a large role in the Roman era and Ottoman Sultan Selim I occupied it in the 16th century AD. The ruins of a mosque whose parts were destroyed, and at the foot of the hill there are five small structures carved into the rock by some of the rulers of Nubia in the era of the Modern Kingdom of ancient Egypt.

• Abu Odeh Temple: This small temple is located in front of the Abu Simbel Temple, and it was carved in the rock by King "Horemheb", the first king of the Nineteenth Dynasty. It is technically the most beautiful of the temples, and it contains a colonnaded hall on either side of which are two rooms, and at the end of the third room is the Holy of Holies.

This temple was converted into a Christian church whose walls were covered with plaster, and pictures of some saints were painted over it.

Philae Temple:

This temple is called the small island in the middle of the Nile, located four kilometers to the south of the Aswan Reservoir, which is a rocky island of pink granite covered at different heights with the silt of the Nile, and this island is also called “Anas Al Wujud.” It includes many temples represent different eras, the oldest of which is a palace built by King "Taharqa" in 700 B.C.

As for the main temple, its construction dates back to the Ptolemaic era, and after that the Roman emperors, and each of them increases parts of the temple.

[caption id="attachment_216725" align="alignnone" width="730"] Philae Temple[/caption]

Contributed by Ahmed Moamar