{"id":6094,"date":"2023-02-07T11:19:16","date_gmt":"2023-02-07T16:19:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/?p=6094"},"modified":"2023-02-15T10:55:52","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T15:55:52","slug":"day-13-february-07-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/?p=6094","title":{"rendered":"DAY 13 February 07, 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"
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DAY 13 February 07, 2023\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

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\"Lake<\/a>

Lake Nassar<\/p><\/div>\n

We made a quick stop to view the High Dam, built to control the flood waters of the Nile and generate electricity. This 13,000-foot-long and 3,200-foot-wide wall was built across the Nile between 1960 and 1970 with Soviet support. There is a visitors pavilion detailing its construction and at the western end there is a lotus shaped tower built to commemorate the Soviet Union’s support. It supplanted the British-built Low Dam of the 1900s and created the vast reservoir known today as Lake Nasser. Atop the High Dam ramparts, we viewed first-hand the complex structure and had a view of Lake Nasser one direction and on the other side the Nile. The lower dam was built to regulate the flow of the Nile and increase Egypt’s cultivable land and to provide hydroelectric power. It soon proved too small to control the rivers unpredictable floods. President Nasser’s solution was to construct the High Dam and create Lake Nasser. The resultant increase in in agricultural production and hydroelectricity have saved Egypt from famine but there have been environmental consequences: The rising water table is destroying ancient monuments and silt previously deposited in the Delta is now retained in Lake Nasser forcing Egypt’s farmers to rely heavily on chemicals.<\/p>\n

During construction, the engineers devised a screening system to prevent the crocodiles from retreating back into the Nile from Lake Nasser. So the only crocodiles now are in Lake Nasser.<\/p>\n

We viewed vastness of the impact of Egypt\u2019s ancient dynasties as we flew 175 miles south from Aswan to visit the great twin temples of Abu Simbel. Along with the Temple of Isis at<\/p>\n

\"Abu<\/a>

Abu Simbel<\/p><\/div>\n

Philae, they are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known collectively as the Nubian Monuments. Here, imposing 70-foot statues of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari overlook the Nile. Originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC to commemorate Ramses II\u2019s victory against the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh, the huge rock relief figures at their entrances have become famous icons, and the sight of them is well worth the extra flight.<\/p>\n

What makes them even more interesting, however, is that these enormous temples were not always found here. Between 1964 and 1968, a famous rescue mission \u2014 overseen by UNESCO \u2014 was undertaken to save them from the waters\u2019 rise behind the Aswan High Dam. In an epic feat of engineering, the entire complex was carefully cut into large blocks, dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location – an artificial cliff almost 700 feet back from and 213 feet above their original position.<\/p>\n

Buried in sand for centuries, the facade was discovered in 1813 by Swiss explorer Jean-Louis Burckhardt. The Ramses II Colossi are accompanied by carved images of captives from the north and south. The four colossi on the temple facade boast of a unified Egypt. Ramses names adorn the thrones in cartouche form. The broken colossi lost its head in an earthquake in 27 BC. Above the colossi, baboons greet the rising sun. \u00a0The facade was intended to impress and frighten, while the interior revealed the union of god and king. Inside the Hypostyle Hall, the colossi in Osiride form (carrying crook and flail) on the southern pillars wear the upper Egypt crown while the northern ones wear the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. There was also a 33 foot high statue of Ramses as Osiris. Storerooms off to the side were to hold offerings to the gods and ritual items. In the inner sanctuary, Ramses II sits with Amun-Ra of Thebes, Ptah of Memphis, and Ra-Harakhty of Heliopolis. On two days of the year, the sun’s rays reach the once gold-covered faces of the statues.<\/p>\n

\"Check<\/a>

Check out the flip hairdo!<\/p><\/div>\n

A smaller temple adjacent is dedicated to his wife, Nefertari, and the cow headed goddess, Hathor, goddess of beauty and joy.<\/p>\n

After marveling at the architectural ingenuity of both the past and present, we flew back to Aswan in time to enjoy lunch in the late afternoon (3:30 PM) on board the ship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An optional trip to the the Old Cataract Hotel to view the suite Agatha Christie stayed in as she wrote portions of “Death of the Nile” was offered. The admission included a voucher to use to purchase a drink in the bar\/lounge. Mustafa, one of the managers on board, formerly worked at the hotel and was leading the tour with tales of his experiences there. It is currently under management by Sofitel as one of its Legend hotels. It is an historic British-era Colonial 5-star luxury hotel built and developed by Thomas Cook to house European travelers to the area.<\/p>\n

After dinner, we were treated to a Nubian Show in the Lounge\/Bar.[print_gllr id=6844]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DAY 13 February 07, 2023\u00a0 We made a quick stop to view the High Dam, built to control the flood waters of the Nile and generate electricity. This 13,000-foot-long and 3,200-foot-wide wall was built across the Nile between 1960 and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1154],"tags":[1163,1162,1161],"class_list":["post-6094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aswan","tag-hittites-at-the-battle-of-kadesh","tag-ramses-ii-and-queen-nefertari","tag-temple-of-isis-at-philae"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6094"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7495,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6094\/revisions\/7495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchbychoice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}