We started our walk from the entrance to the temple . The temple was carved from the cliff . Due to relocation of the temple as a result of the creation of Lake Nasser , they moved the temple in the same site but on higher ground. This had great challenges as one can imagine as they had to move stone by stone and create an artificial mountain as the Great Temple was craved out of a cliff of sandstone .

The 4 statues are all of Rameses 11 from when he started to build the temple when he was 30 years old to till 50 years as the temple took 20 years to build .He lived till 92 years old and he ruled for 67 years . Rameses 11 also build the Luxor and Karnak Temple .

These baboons & lions are not indigenous to Egypt . I asked the Guide on this and he replied baboons & lions were probably brought back to Egypt by the Pharoahs as spoils of the war or when they did trading in those lands . This makes sense .

The temple is divided into an inner collonade ( courtyard ) and the sanctuary .

The right side of these columns had etchings of Rameses 11 showing his prowess at war .

Then the second courtyard opens to 6 statutes depicted the God, Hawthor .

Then after the Hawthor collonade , the entrance to the Sanctuary that consist of 3 statutes and statue of Rameses 11.

The sun rays on the the 21st of October and 21st of February , illuminated only the last 3 gods because symbolically, God Ptah was the god of the underworld and thus, lives in total darkness .

However, because the temple was relocated to higher ground ,archaelogists found that there was a one day gap which means that this occurance is on 22nd of October and 22nd of February . I will continue in Part 2 of this in a separate blog .