Wadi El Seboua: A Triple Crown Of Temples

A 5:30 am wake-up call comes early on vacation (although not as early as the 2:15 am call for the Cairo to Aswan flight to Abu Simbel drive), but it’s worth it to visit the temples of Wadi El Seboua.

One of the temples, not surprisingly, was constructed by Pharaoh Ramesses II, while the other was built by Amenhotep III.  I sincerely doubt either of the Pharaoh actually built their temple.  They had people for that.  Both temples are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, as they should be.

The temple of Amun of Ramesses II is newer and larger, so that's where we went.  Both temples were relocated in 1964 to avoid flooding by the building of the dam.  These moves were done by the Egyptian Antiquities Service, with help from the U.S.

Dubbed the “Valley of the Lions” by the Arabs because of the stone sculptures of the sphinxes that lined the entrance to the temple.  

There are two open courts that held the sphinxes, a large interior courtyard wit pillars and then the temple.  There are a number of spectacular reliefs, including one of Ramesses II presenting an offering to the gods.  

The antechambers include two side chapels and the sanctuary.  Unfortunately, the statues in the sanctuary niches were destroyed.  In the 5th Century AD, the temple was converted into a Christian church, and the reliefs were covered with a layer of plaster.  There is a place in the sanctuary where two statues of gods were replaced by an image of St. Peter, so there is an image of Ramesses II offering flowers to St. Peter.  I didn’t really see it clearly, but Carol did.

Our ship.

Wadi es-Seboua

Dakka from a distance

A Sphinx

Another one.  You can see why

it is called the Valley of the Lions.

This one lost his head.

Our fearless leader Sam is

knowledgeable and unflappable. 

Any time you have a hieroglyphic with

a bird AND a cow in it, you're doing

pretty well.

A boat for use in the next world.

The hut on the island where we tied up.

Unfortunately my camera battery died.  I thought there was enough juice left to get through the morning, so I had forgotten to take the spare.  Carol took some photos while my camera was out for the morning.

Then we went to the large and dramatic Temple of Dakka, which was begun in the 3rd Century BC and later enlarged into a Greco-Roman temple. Dedicated to Thoth, the Egyptian god of wisdom, Both Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy IX enlarged the temple.  It is now place dramatically on top of a hill with commanding views.

(I know. . .you already THOUGHT Thoth was the god of wisdom!)

Dakka from the side, and a little below.

Remember what I said about a bird

and a cow in the same picture!

Graffitti. Not American.

Wadi el Seboua selfie

Our last temple stop was the small temple of Mahraqqa.  Dedicated to Isis and Serapis, it is best know for the baby crocodile the guards have captured.  You get to pose for pictures with them.  It's pretty cool.  Neil hammed it up.  Mary, after saying no, relented and, well, she was pretty cool about it even if the photo below suggests she was not.  I posed, whilst Carol, not shockingly, declined.

How do you tell the difference 

between an alligator and a crocodile?

One will see you later, the other

will see you after a while.

Mary, surprised she's holding a crocodile.

Neil, not sure what to do.

Neil kissing the croc.

Like Samson and Delilah.

Sam, some columns, and the view.

Great view of Lake Nasser.

Don't think this vulture selfie is from

the last temple, but I like it and

I forgot to post it with whatever

temple it was, so here it is.

The number of UNESCO World Heritage sites on this tour is just unreal.  I suppose I need to go back and count, but the temples are far more than I expected, and we have not even hit Luxor yet.  It’s absolutely stunning to visit so many temples, with many more to come.