ABU SIMBEL
One of the highlights of our voyage up the Red Sea was visiting
Abu Simbel.
When I was in grade school as a child, I helped raise money for
the relocation of the Abu Simbel temples to prevent them from
being submerged by the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the
construction of the High Aswan Dam. It took four years and
forty million dollars to cut the temple into blocks and move it to
higher ground.
Abu Simbel was built during the reign of Ramses II more than three
thousand years ago, and it projected pharaoh's power into Nubia.
Back in those days, people didn't have television, and building a
temple to yourself and to your gods was a good way of getting your
story out and letting people know who is the boss.
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