Abu Simbel EarthCache
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Historical site based at the edge of a large artificial lake. This site attracts many multi cultural visitors and therefore PLEASE create your visit log in English.
PLEASE create your visit log in English.
Some 300 km from Aswan, in the region of Nubia, lying almost on the border with Sudan is a strikingly beautiful and majestic monument built by the most powerful pharaoh in the history of Egypt, Ramses II.
The monuments at Abu Simbel were practically unknown in the Egyptological world until Johan Ludwig Burckhardt visited the site in 1813 when he saw the upper part of a temple façade almost covered by sand. Giovanni Battista Belzoni visited the site shortly afterwards in 1817 and discovered the entrance door. Since that time many adventurers have been struck by the awe-inspiring façade of the temple built by Ramses II around 3000 years ago with its giant colossal statues of the king sculpted from the mountain rock.
In the 1960s the new High Dam was built at Aswan which resulted in a build-up of water which threatened to engulf the monuments along its Nubian shores. In a dramatic race against time UNESCO began a US$40 million rescue operation in 1964, the like of which had never been seen before. In the incredible salvage operation the temples were dismantled and cut up into manageable-sized blocks, then painstakingly reconstructed 65m higher than the original site, away from the dangers of the encroaching water. Inside a specially constructed mountain, two gigantic reinforced concrete domes protect the rebuilt temples.
Lake Nasser is an enormous manmade lake and was formed by the building of the High Dam at Aswan. It is surrounded all around by an endless sandy desert with outcroppings of black volcanic rock that the wind has sculpted through the ages. The huge lake (approximately 500 km long and 5-10 km wide) has markedly changed the physiognomies of the area.
The Nile in Nubia, that is to say between the First and Second cataract, flows through a hilly desert region of Nubian sandstone in a well defined valley of erosion. In places this flow is broken by cataracts, created by outcrops of hard crystalline rock which have resisted erosion more effectively than the intervening sandstone. The cataracts of the Nile are shallow stretches between Aswan and Khartoum where the water's surface is broken by numerous small boulders and stones lying on the river bed, as well as many small rocky islets. In some places, these stretches are punctuated by whitewater and are perhaps well characterized as rapids, while in others the water flow is smoother. The six primary cataracts of the Nile were the main obstacles for boats sailing on the Nile in antiquity. Counted upstream (from north to south), the First Cataract is in modern Egypt; the rest are in Sudan. The First Cataract is near Aswan . The Second Cataract (or Great Cataract) was in Nubia and is now submerged in Lake Nasser The Third Cataract is around Tombos / Hannek The Fourth Cataract is in the Manasir Desert and will be flooded by the Merowe Dam from 2006 onwards The Fifth Cataract is near the confluence with the Atbara River The Sixth Cataract is where the Nile cuts through the Sabaluka pluton near Bagrawiyah
Lake Nasser's waters, when discharged downstream, have brought 800,000 acres (324,000 hectares) of additional land under irrigation and have converted 700,000 acres (283,000 hectares) from flood to perennial irrigation. The lake has been stocked with food fish and is said to produce ¾ of Egypt’s fish for eating. In the early 1980s land reclamation projects began in the desert around the lake. The northern two-thirds of the lake, lying in Egypt, is named for Gamal Abdel Nasser, president (1956–70), and the southern third, in The Sudan, is called Lake Nubia.
The Great Temple of Ramses II
The façade of the Temple of Ramses II is dominated by four colossal seated statues carved out of the cliff face, each 20m high and depicting the king, with Nubians carved in the base at his feet. The faces of the statues appear to show Ramses in different stages of his life, although it is thought that the temple was built quite early in his reign. The figures are immense when you are standing at their base looking up at them. Ramses the Great obviously did not want to be forgotten when he built this Nubian Temple.
His mother Tuya, his Chief Wife Nefertari and some of his many children can be seen in smaller scale at his feet. The monument is dedicated to the gods Re-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah, as well as the divine Ramses himself. There are later inscriptions carved on the statues. A Greek inscription by the soldiers of Psamtek II of Dynasty XXVI is carved on the most ruined of the colossi.
To complete this cache, have your photo taken in front of the great temple of Ramses II preferably with your GPS as well put this picture with your log. And email me the answers the following Questions, do not put them in your log:
1. Identify what type of rock it is that the face of the temple is made from. Be specific.
2. Once you identify this rock, tell me what type of rock it is. (Igneous, Metamorphic, or Sedimentary)
3. Email me the worldwide average of the average proportion of the different chemical components (ie. the chemical composition)of this rock. (Can be found on the internet)
4. Variations in temperatures and humidity in the area allow crystals to grow which causes the rock to crack, what are these crystals?
5. On what dates of the year did the sun shine into the sanctuary of the great temple?
6. What dates does it now shine there?
7. Which god is never illuminated by the sun?
8. In 1892 who carved his name into the leg of Ramses II
Above all have fun learning about the temples and the local area.
Remember to create your visit log in English PLEASE.
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