August 2010
In August of 2010, I went to Egypt with my Aunt and a small tour group. We traveled to Cairo, Giza, and Luxor, then boarded a and sailed on the Nile River, making stops in Luxor, Esna, Edfu, Kom Ombo, and Aswan, then completing our trip in upper Egypt, by Lake Nasser, at Abu Simbel.
In addition to many temples, we saw Coptic Churches, Jewish Synagogues, and Islamic Mosques. Our visit coincided with the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from sunrise and sunset. During our visit, most of the country couldn't drink water, or eat food, during the blistering desert heat. It was about 6 months before the Arab spring, an interesting time to be a tourist, and a great reason to buy my first dSLRcamera.
Abu Simbel
In 1968 the massive temples of Abu Simbel were moved to create Lake Nasser. Their original location, along with many other historic temples, was flooded after the building of the Aswan High Dam. These temples are part of the UNESCO Nubian Monuments. This temple, when built in the 1200’s BC, illuminated the gods on with a beam of sunlight on the equinox. When the temple was picked up and moved in the 1900’s, their calculations were off by 1 day.
