What's Amada? I Don't Know, What's Amada With You?

After Kasr Ibrim we were off to Amada for the Temple of Amada, which is the oldest surviving Lake Nasser temple.  It was moved to its current location to preserve the fragile paintings.  The French literally jacked it up, and moved it on temporary railroad tracks.

Every temple we will have gone to off of Lake Nasser will have been saved and moved because of the creation of the lake.  Remarkable work to have saved all those temples, all those stunning statues, carvings, and hieroglyphics.  Many countries, led by UNESCO, pitched in money, scientists, and brainpower to save these temples from as long ago as nearly 5,000 B.C. to around the time of Christ.    

Editor: I know, I know – “UNESCO means you must go!”  Writer: Keep spreading that gospel!

Anyhow, back to Amada (sorry for the detour, but I would love to check Twitter one day and see “UNESCO means ‘you must go!’” trending.  I don’t need money for it; I would be satisfied with global recognition for a slogan well-designed).  Amada was constructed by Pharaoh Thutmose III (in honor of Dave Barry, I must point out that “Pharaoh Thutmose III” would be a great name for a rock band!).

The temple features glorious painted reliefs in the innermost section of the courtyard, as well as stories of battles and successes of both Thutmose and of Amenhotep II, son of Thutmose III.  Dedicated to the gods Amun and Re-Horakhty (not going to even try to pronounce that name), Akhenaten had the name Amun destroyed throughout the temple, but Seti I later restored Amun.

In the Coptic times, the temple was converted into a church, so some damage was done, but most of the reliefs and hieroglyphics remained under the Christian art, which is a relief.  The Christian art was removed sometime in the mid-1800s.  

From there we walked through the desert to the nearby temple of Derr.  By the way, from the outside, some temples look impressive, whilst others do not.  Derr fits that latter description, even though it was built by Ramesses II.  From the outside, it’s much less awe-inspiring than Abu Simbel.  

It is the only rock cut temple in Nubia, and was dedicated to the god Ra-Horakhty.  Scholars disagree as to the precise year it was built, but do know it is quite old.  Derr is famed for its bright relief decorations.

From there, we walked to the tomb of Pennut, a rock cut tomb with antechambers, two niches with the remains of destroyed statues.  Pennut was the overseer of the province of Aniba and lived during the time of Ramesses IV, 1100 years B.C.  Unfortunately, the reliefs in the tomb are not in good shape, but it was still neat to see.  The tomb’s chamber is small enough that only some in the tour group could enter at a time.  Little known fact about Pennut: when he was young his parents affectionately called him “Peanut.”

Editor: Don’t make something up and call it a fact!  Writer: Oh, face it, everyone else thought up the same joke.

We headed back to the ship for some time to relax.