Twice a year, on 22 October and 22 February, a unique event occurs at the rock-hewn temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan. As the sun rises, sun rays penetrate the full length of temple into the sanctum to light the face of the Pharaoh Ramses II (1279-1213 BC) who built the temple. Ramses II was one of the greatest kings who ruled Egypt.
The sun rays enter the temple’s sanctum to light three of four statues sitting there: the three statues belong to King Ramses II and the deities Amun-Re and Re-Hur-Akhty, leaving the God of Darkness Ptah in the shadow to symbolise his connection to the underworld.
On 22 October, some 460 tourists and Egyptian visitors gathered at the temple at dawn to watch the phenomenon. The event is normally attended by thousands of visitors, but the number allowed this year was greatly reduced owing to COVID-19 pandemic. The head of the antiquities sector in Aswan and Nubia, Abdel-Moneim Said, said that the alignment phenomenon took place at around 5:52am and lasted for nearly 20 minutes. He asserted that all hygiene safety precautionary measures were taken, social distancing was kept and visitors wore masks.
The astronomical phenomenon according to which Abu Simbel Temple was built precisely aligns its entrance and innermost chamber along the path of the sun rays at sunrise on the two specific dates. The phenomenon has gone on uninterrupted for 3200 years, the only difference being that, until 1968, it used to occur on 21 October and 21 February, the first date marks the Pharaoh’s birthday, and the second his ascension to the throne. In 1968 the temple was transferred uphill in a grand rescue operation through a UNESCO-led international project to salvage it from the flooding to be caused by in 1970 by the lake reservoir upstream the Aswan High Dam. The temples of Abu Simbel were dismantled and lifted from their original site to the present one where they were reassembled. On UNESCO website, the recue is dubbed “the greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time.” Abu Simbel remained timelessly unchanged, except for the dates on which the sun penetrates the temple: they shifted from 21 October and 21 February to the following days, the 22nd of the two months.
Watani International
23 October 2020