A Special Celebration held for Ramses the Great at Luxor Temple

 On 18th April 2019 a very special celebration took place during the evening at Luxor Temple, an amazing Osirid statue of Ramses the Great standing 36ft high was unveiled and it stands beneath the left front pylon of the temple, the statue had been found broken and  in 57 pieces in 1958. 

The Horus, Mighty Bull, Exalter of Thebes, Favorite of the Two Goddess, establishing monuments for his father Amun who placed him on the Throne, Golden Horus seeking excellent things for him who fashioned him King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usamatre, Chosen of Re, has been reborn.

 

In ancient Egypt, it was believed that if the name of the pharaoh was spoken again he would be reborn, so Ramses stands regally as the God Osiris, a primeval king of Egypt who became the Judge of the Underworld after he had been murdered by his jealous brother Set, and brought back to life again by his wife the Goddess Isis, who had travelled all over Egypt to find the parts of his body that Set had dismembered

Like the God Osiris, Ramses holds the crook and flail which signified the pharaonic authority. The shepherd's crook stood for kingship and symbolically expressed that the King was the Shepherd of his people, the flail was for the fertility of the land. Osiris had ruled Egypt, having inherited the kingship from his ancestors in a lineage stretching back to the creator of the world.  Ramses chose to be portrayed as Osiris who is connected with life-giving power, righteous kingship, and the rule of Maat, which represented ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice

The main pylons of Luxor temple celebrate Ramses and his victory over the Hittites at the battle of Kaddesh which took place during the fifth year of the king’s reign. Ramses is shown in large relief whilst his enemies are represented in small scale to inspire his people of their Kings unquestionable supremacy and invincible strength against all the enemies of Egypt.  In faint relief on the right side of the pylon, is a depiction of the kings encampment before the battle is shown, his large tent stands in the center surrounded by the smaller tents of his troop, cavalry horses and chariots wait, whilst a lion trainer controls the beast that is anchored to a ring in the ground, a man is being beaten for information in the top corner of the encampment whilst soldiers continue with their normal chores and duties. On the highest level of the left pylon, Ramses charges fearlessly across the battleground, his bow is taught and the arrows ready to fly as his chariot recklessly hurtles in to the midst of his enemies, he is alone and completely surrounded cut off from his troops, he had compromised himself with his actions, and yet like the raging lion Sekhmet his strength is increased as he tears into the enemies scattering and maiming them beneath the wheels of his chariot.

Ramesses had 200 wives and concubines, 96 sons and 60 daughters, he ruled for over 67 years, his favorite wife was Nefertari who can be seen at the side of his leg as he is sat on the throne of two lands each side of the entrance into Luxor temple, to express his love for his Queen, Ramses had a beautiful tomb created for Nefertari in the Valley of the Queens, and among his many accomplishments, Ramses also created a temple at Abu Simbel for himself and a smaller one dedicated to Nefertari.. 

Ramses body had been removed from his tomb in the Valley of the Kings with about fifty other members of royalty, and he was hidden in a poor undecorated tomb DB320 by priests in the 23rd Dynasty who probably emptied the tombs in the Valley of the Kings for the wealth inside them, after the death of Ramses 111 during the 20th dynasty Egypt had gone into decline, and priests ruled the country not Kings. 

During the summer of 1871  Ramses mummy was found by a tomb robber named Ahmed Abd el Rassul,  Ahmed climbed down a thirty foot shaft, once inside the tomb he realized he had found a great collection of mummies, so he retrieved his goat that had fell down the shaft, and went in search of his brothers to tell them of his discovery, together the brothers decided that they needed a plan to  keep people away from the tomb and protect their discovery ensuring their wealth to come. They returned to the tomb and threw a dead donkey inside the shaft, the stench of the donkey as it decayed would erase any further curiosity from others, and possibly convincing any suspicious minds that a demon had woken in the tomb. Over the next ten years the tomb robbers prospered with their treasure trove that gradually made its way to the hands of collectors and auction houses. Eventually The Antiquities service realized that a tomb must have been found, and so Sir Gaston Maspero sent one of the museum staff Emile Brugsch to discover where the artifacts were coming from. Emile presented himself as a wealthy buyer which gained the trust of the traders, and finally led him to the Abd Rassul Brothers. The brothers were arrested and tortured and despite a severe beating on the soles of the feet they would not give their discovery away, eventually after a month they were released, but then the police harassed their family and the villagers at Quarna continuously until eventually one of the brothers confessed to the police where the tomb was to avoid any further harassment of themselves or the rest of the villagers.

After 3,000 years of seclusion the Royal mummies left the tomb DB320 near the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut at Dier El Bahari  and were carried by donkeys and mules to the banks of the Nile where they were transported to Cairo. Women came to the riverbank and wailed in mourning for the deceased kings and their kin. Never in the history of any nation has there been such an awesome entourage of deceased royalty, the glory of Ancient Egypt rose again as their pharaohs traveled to safety in Cairo, their final resting place, where modern scientists now continue the work of some of the ancient priests to protect and preserve the mummies of their kings.

Nefertari the Beloved Great Queen of Ramses the Great

Rameses the Great adored his Great Royal Wife Nefertari Mery-en-Mut, whose name means ‘most beautiful, beloved of the goddess Mut’, Ramses wrote this  poem for her on the wall of the stunning tomb that he had created for her at Ta set Neferu, 'the Place of Beauty' :

My love is unique, no-one can rival her,

for she is the most beautiful woman alive,

Just by passing, she has stolen my heart,

she who fills the colonnades and halls

with her perfume from the Land of |Punt,

Her perfect breast is covered in the finest linen,

Gold is nothing compared to her arms,

Her skin is as fair and soft as milk,

Her hair is the colour of the dark eclipse

Beautiful of face

My love for her is unique, no-one can rival her,

She is the most beautiful woman in the world

Beloved of Mut, Nefertari.

 Ramses father gave him his own Harem, it was no shame to be a member of a harem, the ladies were made up of the daughters of noble families, and princesses from foreign lands, and it was here that Ramses met Nefertari, whom he married when he was sixteen.

Ramses came to rule in the harvest of 1279, and he ruled for 66 years, he was the third pharaoh of the 19th dynasty during the New Kingdom period, and he is regarded as the greatest, most celebrated and the most powerful pharaoh of that period, his titles were : The Justice of Ra is powerful chosen of Ra, Re has fashioned him beloved of Amun, the Srong bull, beloved of right and truth. Protector of Egypt who curbs foreign lands, rich in great years great in victory.

Ramses had 8 other wives, but Nefertari was his beloved and favourite wife, and she bore him six children. Amun-her-khepeshef who became the Crown prince and commander of the troops, prince Pareherwenemef, prince Meryattum, Prince Meryre, and Princess Meritamen and Henettawy

During the 5th year of his reign Ramses went into war at the  Battle of Kaddesh, many temples show his victories in battle. Whilst Ramses was away Nefertari his Great Royal Wife ruled Egypt. During the time that Ramses was away a small group of Hittites entered Egypt, and arrived at the Rammessium Temple to kidnap Nefertari, fortunately her own guards prevented the abduction. A few years after the war was over Nefertari used her intellegence and skills as a diplomat to maintain peace between the Hittities and Egypt. Nefertari wrote many letters to the Hittitie Queen and they exchanged regular gifts, Nefertari also encouraged Ramses to marry a Hittite Princess to cement the goodwill between the countries.

The Hittites and Ramses made a peace treaty, and a copy of it is on the walls at the United Nations Building it records : Ramses Great King of Egypt is in good peace and brotherhood with  Hattusili Great King.....

During the year 1244 Ramses began the construction of the Temples of Abu Simbel in Nubia, the temples were carved into the mountainside, and twice a year, on the days of Ramses Coronation and Birth, October 22 and February 22 the sunlight shines at dawn in a direct line into the inner sanctuary of Ramses temple and lights up the figures of Ramses sat with the Gods, Many people visit Abu Simbel on these two days as a big celebration is held here

The Temples of Abu Simbel are situated at the furthest point of Egyptian supremacy, and it is here that Ramses shows his ultimate respect and love for Nefertari, because at the side of his mighty temple, he created another smaller temple that he dedicated to Nefertari and the Goddess Hathor. On the exterior of the temple he placed images of himself and images of Nefertari at the same height as himself, so in effect he was declaring to the world that he considered Nefertari as his Equal, no other Egyptian King has ever paid his wife this compliment

In the 24th year of Ramses Rule Nefertari went with Ramses to see the Temple at Abu Simbel, but she died shortly after this visit and so she was buried in the wonderful tomb that Ramses had created for her in the southern desert area of Taa Set Neferu 'the Place of Beauty' a gorge where Kings buried their dearest wives and children.

The tomb was rediscovered by an Italian Egyptologist named Ernest Schiaparelli in 1904, when he entered the tomb only a few fragments of Nefertari's possessions remained.

Ramses wrote on Nefertari's tomb walls :

The Princess Rich in grace

Lady of Affection

Sweet with love

Mistress of the two lands

Songstress of the beautiful countenance

Greatest in the Harem of the lord of the Palace

All you have said will be done for you

Everything beautiful according to your wish

When you enter a tomb, you are entering into the realm of the Egyptian God Osiris, who is the God of the Underworld. During the 12 hours of the night Nefertari had a perilous journey to undertake, she had to cross over a new gate each hour that was guarded by demons & monsters, she had to fight off the Apophis snake that sawm in the waters of chaos, and then she had to stand before the God Osiris with many other Gods where her heart would be placed on a set of scales against the feather of Maat the Goddess of justice and truth to see if she had lead a just and honest life, and deserved to live for eternity, if thee scales didn't balance her heart would have been devoured by an Ammit, a fearsome creature with the head of a crocodile and the body of a hippopotamus, both very dangerous creatures in Ancient Egypt, and she would simply cease to exist.

As Nefertari is about to step into the world of the dead, the Goddess Isis holds her hand to guide her, and she places an ankh at Nefertari's nostrils, the ankh is the hieroglyph of breath life and spirit, it is a potent symbol representing the union of male and female and earth and heaven  It offers the gift of immortality, Nefertari does not expire or exhale, but inhales the breath of life.

The Djed Column is shown on the pillars and walls in Nefertari's tomb, the Djed is symbolic of the backbone of the God Osiris, it is a representation of stability, and when used in tombs it helped the soul to stand up again and walk into the afterlife. This Djed holds the keys of life and two was sceptres, which are symbolic of Royal Power

The ceilings in Nefertari's tomb are amazing and a vivid dark blue for the night sky and covered in stars, these represent astral sentinels who never sink below the horizon and were a representation with the souls of gods and beings who had survived  the perilous passage through death to the beyond.

Th tragedy of Nefertari's tomb was that it had been robbed and only a few items of no real value were found inside the tomb, but the worst sacrilege was what happened to Nefertari herself. Only a pair of legs broken into pieces from the knees down remained of her mummy and were found in her tomb.

The Ancient Egyptians created temples and tombs and wrote spells and the history of the person, as they believed that if a persons name was spoken, that person would live again, so it is my wish that if you enter Nefertari's tomb, please say a silent prayer for her, and utter her name once more.

Ramses 11 has a passport !

In 1977  Ramses was flown to Paris with his own passport, his occupation is described as KING (deceased) On his arrival in Paris a Great Ramses 11 Exhibition was staged. Obviously this is not the original passport of Ramses 11 that he was given in 1974, it has been created just to show what his passport might look like.

The journey to Paris was also arranged to offer the mummy of Ramses the best conservation treatment possible as deterioration had been noticed, with the invasion of beetle larvae.

 In the shimmering heat at Cairo airport the coffin of Ramses passed onto the plane whilst a guard of Honor saluted the King.  On arrival in Paris Airport Ramses was again greeted with a full presidential guard of Honor even though he had been dead for nearly 3,200 years.

This is the Mummy of Ramses at the Exhibition - The wall behind him shows a scene from the Great Temple of Abu Simbel in Nubia, depicting the pharaoh in a military campaign against Kush (Nubia)

The Mummy of Ramses 11 is now housed in the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

                                                           

Ramses 11 came to power at the age of 25, his popular title is ‘Ramses the Great,’ but his Pharonic name was ‘Ra has fashioned him Beloved of Amun.’  Ramses reigned for 67 years, and fathered over a 100 children ! 

During his long reign Ramses 11 probably erected the most statues temples and obelisks of all the pharaohs. Some of his most impressive works included the Hypostyle hall at Karnack temple, this was begun by his father Seti 1 and Ramses finished work on the Hypostyle hall. after the death of his father.

He created the first courtyard in Luxor Temple surrounding it with his striding statues, which hold the Mekes papyrus in his hand giving him the authority to rule. He created the front pylons of Luxor Temple, which shows him fearlessly riding into battle on his chariot at the Battle of Kaddesh, he sits on the throne of two lands each side of the temple entrance, with his beloved wife Nefertari at the side of his leg.

Originally he placed two Obelisks outside the front pylons that had a top cap of Electrum (a mixture of gold and silver) these would capture the rays of the sun and flash energy and vitality down the bold vertical lines and the hieroglyphics  that would inspire the traveler to utter the names of Ramses making him immortal once more, and his authority of the land is invoked and assured again,'The Horus, Mighty Bull, Exalter of Thebes, Favorite of the Two Goddess, establishing monuments for his father Amun who placed him on the Throne, Golden Horus seeking excellent things for him who fashioned him King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usamatre, Chosen of Re.'

The twin obelisk now stands in The Palace de la Concorde at Paris, and the spell of protection and energy field that the two combined Obelisks offered the perimeters of the temple have been severed.

The Obelisk was given to France in recognition of Champollion deciphering the Rosetta stone making hieroglyphics and the 'Gods Words' in Temples and Tombs come to life once more, If your name is uttered and not forgotten then you have eternal life.

Ramses was also responsible for completing one of the most unusual and impressive of all Egyptian temples at Abu Simbel in Nubia, which was the furthest point of Ancient Egyptian supremacy.

This awesome temple was cut into the mountainside, and has four statues of Ramses sat on the Throne of two Lands. The axis of the temple was positioned by the Ancient Egyptian architects with the advice of the Goddess Sekhet, (the Architect) who worked all the details of the temples axis according to the stars, so on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would flash through the temple door bringing light and life to the sitting statues of Ramses sat with the Gods, Amun, Ra-Horakhty and Ptah. By building such an awesome monument Ramses was sending a strong message to the Nubian Race that he held the power.

Egyptomania Begins in the 19th Century - Tourists flock to Egypt

Tourism to Egypt  began slowly after the 1830's after Napoleon Bonaparte's failed expedition to Egypt, It was the work of the Savants he brought with him that first brought Egypt to the attention of the World they created 'The Description de l'Égypte' which was a series of publications, detailing the history of Egypt both ancient and modern, the first volume appeared in 1809 and continued until the final volume appeared in 1829.

Whilst in Egypt Napoleon's soldiers found the Rosetta stone, and after many years of study,  Champollion deciphered the stone using a tracing that the French had made of the stone before they had released it to the British army.  Champollion deciphered the Rosetta stone in 1822, and brought the ancient Gods words to life again.

Giovanni Belzoni also helped to inspire people in Europe on his travels with his installation of the Tomb of Seti 1, that he had discovered in the Valley of the Kings, and the head of Ramses 11 that he had removed from the Ramessium in 1816.

Egyptomania had begun !

From the 1860's the early photographers  helped so much to encourage people to visit Egypt, their photos expressed the ordinary life of Egyptians, and the amazing history of it's antiquities, and the early tourists loved to buy these memories and postcards of Egypt. Here we can see early tourists at the side of the Sphinx and the great Pyramid of Khufu which is the largest pyramid built in Egypt. As you can see the paws of the sphinx are buried under the sand. These two icons, of Ancient Egypt have always featured in the Western imagination.

Tourists used to climb the pyramids in the 19th Century, if you decided to do it now you would be arrested.

Pyramid of Khufu and the Sphinx

One of the most famous American tourists to climb the Great pyramid of Khufu (also known as the pyramid of Cheops) was the author Mark Twain, who firstly described the Giza plateau :

At a distance of a few miles the pyramids rising above the palms, looked very clean-cut, very grand and imposing, and very soft an filmy, as well. They swarm in a rich haze that took from them all suggestions of unfeeling stone, and made them seem only the airy nothings of a dream - structures which might blossom into tiers of vague arches, or ornate colonnades, may be, and change and change again, into all graceful forms of architecture, while we looked, and then melt deliciously away and change again, into all graceful forms of architecture,'

Mark Twain admitted his failure to adequately describe the sheer massiveness of the Great Pyramid, but he went on to describe how he got to the top of it:

'we were besieged by a rabble of muscular Egyptians and Arabs who wanted the contract of dragging us to the top—all tourists are.'

'the Sheiks said they were the only responsible parties; that all contracts must be made with them, all moneys paid over to them, and none exacted from us by any but themselves alone. Of course they contracted that the varlets who dragged us up should not mention bucksheesh once.'
'we contracted with them (the shieks) paid them, were delivered into the hands of the draggers, dragged up the Pyramids, and harried and be-deviled for bucksheesh from the foundation clear to the summit.'

'Each step being full as high as a dinner-table; there being very, very many of the steps; an Arab having hold of each of our arms and springing upward from step to step and snatching us with them, forcing us to lift our feet as high as our breasts every time, and do it rapidly and keep it up till we were ready to faint, who shall say it is not lively, exhilarating, lacerating, muscle-straining, bone-wrenching and perfectly excruciating and exhausting pastime, climbing the Pyramids?'

'I could conjure up no comparison that would convey to my mind a satisfactory comprehension of the magnitude of a pile of monstrous stones that covered thirteen acres of ground and stretched upward four hundred and eighty tiresome feet, and so I gave it up and walked down to the Sphinx.'
When Mark Twain confronted the Sphinx he gave the following description of it's face:

'The great face was so sad, so earnest, so longing, so patient. There was a dignity not of earth in its mien, and in its countenance a benignity such as never anything human wore. It was stone, but it seemed sentient. If ever image of stone thought, it was thinking. It was looking toward the verge of the landscape, yet looking at nothing—nothing but distance and vacancy. It was looking over and beyond everything of the present, and far into the past…it was thinking of the wars of departed ages; of the empires it had seen created and destroyed; of the nations whose birth it had witnessed, whose progress it had watched, whose annihilation it had noted; of the joy and sorrow, the life and death, the grandeur and decay, of five thousand slow revolving years.'

After five months of travel in Europe and the Middle East, Mark Twain wrote a book describing all his Travels, it is titled 'Innocents Abroad' it was published in 1869


Karnack Temple - the earthly home of the God Amun

In 1862 Queen Victoria sent her 20 year old son, the Prince of Wales, Albert Edward (affectionately known as Bertie), on a four month tour of the Middle East. He is seen here with his entourage in the Hypostyle Hall of Amun Ra in Karnack Temple, the Gods earthly home.

The Hypostyle hall was considered as the mound of creation by the ancient Egyptians, and the awesome columns in this hall represent the plants that came into being on the mound of creation. Standing in this incredible hall you are overpowered by 134 of these gigantic columns, 122 are in the open papyrus bud style, and another 12 in the central isle are closed. The Hypostyle hall, is the reception area of the gods, its awesome lotus columns represent the plants that came into being on the mound of creation. The lotus columns are a symbolism of Horus who was born on the waters of creation, the lotus plant represents the first sunrise on the day of creation. Each evening the lotus submerges beneath the waters, and at dawn it rises symbolically to worship the sun again, it encompasses all the forces of nature and lives in all the four elements, its roots are bound to the earth and its stem rises through water, it flourishes in the air and blooms in the sunlight The Hypostyle Hall was originally created by Seti 1, and after his death, his son Ramses the Great completed the Hall.

Behind Prince Albert's group is the part of a fallen obelisk, which I assume it is one of the obelisks created by Hatshepsut, and can now be found near the Sacred Lake. Originally Hatshepsut created two Obelisks which would have stood together one each side of her Red Chapel that would have been intended as a barque shrine for the God Amun Ra. An obelisk was intended to create an energy field and power from the  Sun God Amun Ra to the temple, they originally had a covering at the top that was covered in electrum, which was a mix of gold and silver, and would capture the rays of the sun god Amun Ra bringing energy, protection and new life to the temple, so obelisks were originally created in pairs, Ramses 11 originally had an obelisk each side of the entrance into Luxor Temple, but one was dismantled and given to France in recognition of Champollion deciphering the Hieroglyphics. Once the suns rays hit the obelisk the pharaohs name would be invoked as the words would come to life.

The Obelisk of Hatshepsut that still stands in Karnack Temple expresses her devotion to the God Amun whose earthly home was Karnack Temple :

I have created this work with a heart full of love for Amon
Initiated into his secrets of origin
Instructed through his beneficial powers
I have not forgotten what he has ordained
My majesty recognizes his Divinity
I have acted on his orders
It is he who has guided me
I have never slept because I was pre-occupied with his temple
I have never turned away from what he has commanded
My heart moved intuitively with The Father
I have entered ultimately into the plans of his heart
I have never turned my back to the Master of Totality
But rather I have turned my face towards him


These tourists have got to be British !

They are all sat having lunch in the amazing Hypostyle  Hall in Karnack Temple.


Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple  is one of the most unique temples in Egypt, as it is not the earthly home of a god, nor is it a pharaohs mortuary temple. It was created to celebrate the 'Opet Festival' that was celebrated every year for 11 days just before the annual Nile flood, the celebrations were to give new life to Egypt and to renew the Kings vitality and power to rule.

In these celebrations, the king would leave the home of Amun Ra, at Karnack Temple and escort the  sacred barques of the God Amun, his wife Mut, and their son Khonsu to the celebrations held in Luxor Temple's inner sanctuaries and the Festival hall of Amenhotep 111. Luxor Temple as we see it today, was mainly built by two pharaohs, Ramses 11 'The Great' of the 19th Dynasty - the New Kingdom period, and Amenhotep 111 of the 18th dynasty who was also known as 'The Magnificent', who was also known as 'Amenotep the Magnificent', he was the son of Tuthmosis 111 'The Egyptian Napoleon' who brought wealth and prosperity to Egypt with all his victories.

Amenhotep 111 died in the 39th year of his reign, and his son Amenoteph 1V succeed to the throne, after five years of rule he changed his name to Akhenaten,  who believed in one god, the Aten, and turned his back on the many Gods of Ancient Egypt. His rule brought Egypt to the brink of disaster.

In ancient times Luxor temple was known as 'Ipet Resyt' which means 'the Southern Sanctuary', and the 'Sun court, or festival hall was where all the dancing, feasting, and celebrations took place. The court is very large and surrounded on three sides by beautiful papyrus bud and open lotus columns.

In the photograph we can see four  Victorian tourists sat on camels inside the Festival hall, as you will notice the floor level of sand has reached half way up the surrounding columns.

In 1883 Gaston Maspero was given permission to excavate the sand from inside the temple, and so they evicted all the Egyptians who had created their homes inside the temple. One such resident was Lady Duff Gordon, who had rejected her Victorian life in favor of a life with the Egyptians,  she made her home into a little hospital, so that the Egyptians could come to her for help. Mostly she just gave them a miracle cure of a cup of English tea !
Looking at the photograph you can see the minaret of the mosque of Abu Hagag in the background, the mosque was built about 800 years ago and had also been built inside the temple. Once the sand was dug away it left the doors to the mosque at ceiling height, so the Muslims had to create a new entrance at the back of the mosque.

Thomas Cook brings Victorian Travelers to Egypt

It was Thomas Cook who first brought British travelers to sail up the River Nile on an 'organized' tour to Egypt, it had been his dream to visit Egypt and the Holy Land so in 1869 he organized the first cruise up the River Nile. His luxury tour of the middle East lasted for three months and was obviously aimed at wealthy Victorian tourists, they made the journey up the Nile in two steamers that he had hired from the King of Egypt. The tour was successful, and within 10 years he had established a small fleet of Nile steamers which would transport the wealthy tourists up the Nile.

Ernest Wallis Budge was an English Egyptologist who worked for the British Museum  He made many trips to Egypt for the British Museum to buy antiquities, and he went on to publish many books on Egyptology and his Oriental studies.

In 1895 Thomas Cook provided the first holiday guide book that he gave to all his guests on his tours. The book was written by E.A.Wallis Budge and was titled 'Notes for Travelers in Egypt.' The book was written in simple terms, offering information about the Temples and Tombs they would see on their journey up the Nile.

Philae Island - The Earthly Home of the Goddess Isis

The island of Philae and the temple of the Goddess Isis drew many tourists to it's shores in the 19th century, the approach by water was beautiful  when seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, and the kiosk seems to rise out of the water like a mirage. In the 19th century when early tourists visited the Island of Philae, it was originally located near the First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt.

Once the first Aswan dam was built in 1902 Philae was drowned in water, half way up the temple pylons. In the 20th century 1970's the temple was dismantelled piece by piece and moved to a small island called Agiliki to protect it from the floods.

In ancient times both the Greeks and the Romans who had invaded Egypt had embraced the worship of the Goddess Isis, Pilgrims had come from far away to pay respects to the goddess Isis and her husband Osiris, who it is said was buried on a small island called Bigeah, near to Philae Island.

Osiris had been murdered by his jealous brother Set, who then carved up his body, and distributed the parts all over Egypt, thus denying him an eternal life. Isis searched for the parts of Osiris with the help of the God Thoth, for many years,  and eventually they had all the body parts. Isis then used her magic powers to bring Osiris back to life again, but when it was done the God Amun Ra said he was not allowed to walk the earth again, and so he made him the God of the underworld.

 With the Christian faith building up, the ancient Egyptian religion was banned. Philae temple has many Coptic crosses cut into it's walls and columns, as it was turned into a church for the worship of Christianity.

In this photograph you can see  Edwardian ladies from 1905 standing on the embankment looking towards the kiosk of Tragan, it is also known as 'The Pharaoh's Bed' it was built during the Roman era of Egypt. It is a beautiful structure of 14 massive columns with carved floral capitals, that sits on the side of the Island, in Ancient Egypt it was the embarkation area of boats coming to the Island of Philae. It simple in its design. Inside are reliefs showing Trajan as a pharaoh making offerings to Osiris, Isis and Horus.The King in ancient Egypt was the living representation of the God Horus.

Amelia Edwards was an English novelist, journalist, explorer, artist, and Egyptologist and during her journey up the Nile' she wrote many entries in her diaries, and they were published as 'A Thousand Miles up the Nile'. It was during her visit to Egypt in the winter of 1873 that she realized she would dedicate the rest of her life to protecting Egypt's ancient sites.

On leaving  the Island of Philae and the temple of Isis she wrote :
'Sailing gently southward – the river opening wide before us, Philae dwindling in the rear – we feel that we are now fairly over the border ; and that if Egypt was strange and far from home, Nubia is stranger and farther still. The Nile here flows deep and broad. The rocky heights that hem it in so close on either side are still black on the one hand, golden on the other.' 

Abu Simbel - The Temples of Ramses 11 - The southern most point of Ancient Egyptian Supremacy

There are two temples cut into the massive rock of the mountainside and are known as the temples of Abu Simbel. One to express Ramses 11 dominance over Nubia, and a smaller temple created for the love of his great wife Nefertari.

The temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the New Kingdom the 19th dynasty of Ramses 11, and inside his temple it celebrates his  victories at the battle of Kaddesh. When Amelia visited Abu Simbel the colossi of Ramses were half covered in sand, and it was in it's original place, but when the Aswan Dam was built in the 1970's it would have been drowned in water, so they moved it from its original place, it is now on the western bank of Lake Nasser. Inside Ramses temple it celebrates his  victories at the battle of Kaddesh.

When Amelia visited Abu Simbel the colossi of Ramses were half covered in sand.

On Amelia Edwards arrival at the temples of Abu Simbel she wrote in her book :
'It was wonderful to wake every morning close under the steep bank, and without lifting one's head from the pillow, to see that row of giant faces so close to the sky.'

credits to www.wikipeadia.com and www.gutenberg.org - ebook for use of anyone anywhere at no cost

Florence Nightingale's Letters from Egypt - 1849-50

Among some of the earliest British women travelers to visit Egypt in the 19th century, was Florence Nightingale, she was an  extremely brave lady  to step out of the boundaries in the 19th century Victorian period, where it was considered only decent that a woman should marry and look after her husband and children. In Victorian society women had no rights, but with extreme determination Florence chose to  travel half way across the world to Egypt, and immerse herself in a completely different culture, writing her diary that was later published.

Florence Nightingale went to Egypt in the winter of 1849 when she was 29 years old on a five month trip, apart from visiting the Antiquities, her interest for Egypt had been aroused through the travels of Giovanni Belzoni. Whilst in Egypt Florence visited a convent, and saw first hand  how the Nuns kept the sick wards in the convent spotlessly clean, it was the complete opposite of English hospitals that were filthy, along with the poor wretches in the wards, this visit to the convent lead to Florence's knowledge of how to run a hospital, and later when the Crimean war started in 1854, she put this  knowledge to use , and changed nursing practices for the better to treat the wounded soldiers that were dying of disease and injuries.

In her diary she commented about the Muslim faith :

'there is much good in the Mohametan religion. Charity is unbounded; and it is not the charity of patronage, but the charity of fellowship. If any man says to another “Inshallah,” In the name of God, he may sit down at his table and partake of anything that he has, and no man will refuse. The beggar will do this with the greatest dignity. There is no greediness, no rapacity. Nothing of any value is ever stolen from you; there is no need to shut the door: they will take a trifle, but nothing else'

Hiring a dahabyeha  Florence went all the way up the River Nile to Abu Simbel, here she wrote in her diary  'Sublime in the highest style of intellectual beauty, intellect without effort, without suffering … not a feature is correct—but the whole effect is more expressive of spiritual grandeur than anything I could have imagined. It makes the impression upon one that thousands of voices do, uniting in one unanimous simultaneous feeling of enthusiasm or emotion, which is said to overcome the strongest man.' Florence loved her journey up the Nile, to see all the wondrous temples, and in comparison her heart went out to the poorest Egyptians who she noticed lived in poverty and awful conditions  in the villages at the side of the Nile.

Florence nightingale's sister prepared her diary  for publication, it titled :
'Letters from Egypt A Journey on the Nile 1849-1850. It was published in 1854.

Amelia Roberts writes 'A Thousand Miles up the Nile' - Founder of the Egyptian Fund (society) A 19th century woman with a passion for Egypt

English novelist and travel writer Amelia Edwards arrived in Egypt in the winter of 1873, for a journey up the River Nile that would change her life, she fell so in love with Egypt and its history that she decided to study Egyptology, and Hieroglyphic writing, she learnt Arabic and studied Egyptian Literature. Emile wrote the book 'A Thousand Miles up the Nile'.  It was published in 1877 a few years after her travels in Egypt. Amelia's book was a mixture of a diary, an early tour guide and it also describes her Temple discoveries, and the Egyptian life and culture of the Victorian Period. , she also gives us a fascinating look into the lives of the Egyptians that in the 19th century lived in hovels inside the temples, Amelia noted that 'what is most striking is the abject poverty of the people who dwell among these ruins that attract so many wealthy Europeans.'

Amelia wrote about her fellow tourists : The British lord it over the natives who will do anything for ‘baksheesh’ (charity). The men on the trip are of course ‘sportsmen’, which means they shoot at anything in sight and even the author remarks on the tragedy of crocodiles being shot nearly into extinction. One stomach-churning episode details the near killing of an Egyptian child by the carelessness of one of these gunmen. When the relatives of the child assail the blundering ass, they are arrested and threatened with brutality by the police who claim that the whole village will be bastinadoed (caning of the soles of the feet) should the ‘Ingleezeh’ wish it.


On her travels Amilia created over seventy illustrations  on site in watercolours. Amelia's depiction of nineteenth-century Egypt with its fellahs, dahabiya and rural villages has been an indispensable resource for so many people interested in Egypt during the 19th Century. For the book's publication her watercolour paintings had to be copied and engraved on wood.
In the 19th Century a lot of the temples were in ruins, columns and obelisks had fallen down, the temples were half filled with sand, and Egyptians lived inside them with their donkeys chickens and cooking fires, where the black smoke ruined the beautiful colours of the temple reliefs on it's walls and ceilings, Dendera temple was a classic example, the ceiling was black with smoke dust, but it has been lovingly restored again. Amelia believed that the great Egyptian antiquities would be destroyed if proper scientific investigation were not instituted. Leaving Egypt Amelia devoted herself to publicising the need for archaeological research in Egypt by means of writing and lecturing. Her lecture tour brought her to the United States in  1889-90 and resulted in a publication Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers in 1891.

Amelia toured Egypt for a second time again with her friend and companion Lucy Renshaw. They hired a dahabiya (a large houseboat) and  they sailed southwards where they visited the Temples of Hathor at Dendera , the temple of Khumn at Esna,Temple of Isis at Philae, and the Temple of Ramses 11 at Abu Simbel




Dendera temple - The Goddess Hathor

'If a sound of antique chanting were to be borne along the quiet air - if a procession of white robed priests bearing aloft the veiled ark of the God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and the pylons - we would not think it strange.'

'an Egyptian Temple was not a place for public worship. It was a treasure-house, a sacristy, a royal oratory, a place of preparation, of consecration, of sacerdotal privacy. There, in costly shrines, dwelt the divine images. There they were robbed and unrobbed ; perfumed with incense ; visited and worshipped by the King. On certain great days of the calendar, as on the occasion of the festival of the new year, or the panegyrics of the local gods, these images were brought out, paraded along the corridors of the temple, carried round the roof, and borne with waving of banners, and chanting of hymns, and burning of incense, through the sacred groves of the enclosure. Probably none were admitted to these ceremonies save persons of royal or priestly birth. To the rest of the community, all that took place within those massy walls was enveloped in mystery.'

'The hall of assembly contains a calendar of festivals, and sets forth with studied precision the rites to be performed on each recurring anniversary. On the ceiling of the portico we find an astronomical zodiac ; on the walls of a small temple on the roof the whole history of the resurrection of Osiris, together with the order of prayer for the twelve hours of the night, and a calendar of the festivals of Osiris in all the principal cities of Upper and Lower Egypt.'

The Temple of the God Khumn at Esna

At the little town of Esna Amelia had problems finding the temple because the town had been surrounded by sand and the towns buildings, when she eventually found it she wrote:
'This is what we see…a Temple neither ruined nor defaced, but buried to the chin in the accumulated rubbish of a score of centuries.'  Amelia was disappointed that the majority of the temple remained unexcavated under the surrounding town.  ' What treasures of sculptured history, what pictured chambers, what buried bronzes and statues may here wait the pick of the excavator!'

The Temple of Isis at Philae

'The approach by water is quite the most beautiful. Seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of the river like a mirage. Piled rocks frame it in on either side, and purple mountains close up the distance. As the boat glides nearer between glistening boulders, those sculptured towers rise higher and ever higher against the sky. They show no sign of ruin or age. All looks solid, stately, perfect. One forgets for the moment that anything is changed. Amelia 'was struck by the beauty of the temple of Philae, she described it : 'perfect grace, exquisite proportion, most varied and capricious grouping, here take the place of massiveness.' On leaving Philae they sailed to Abu Simbel

The Temple of Ramses 11 at Abu Simbel

Arriving At Abu Simbel on the 21st January they moored the dahabiya for eighteen days so that they could explore and record this amazing temple. Amelia wrote about the seated statues of Ramses:  'it was wonderful to wake every morning close under the steep bank, and, without lifting one's head from the pillow, to see that row of giant faces so close against the sky. They showed unearthly enough by moonlight ; but not half so unearthly as in the grey of dawn. At that hour, the most solemn of the twenty-four, they wore a fixed and fatal look that was little less than appalling. As the sky warmed, this awful look was succeeded by a flush that mounted and deepened like the rising flush of life. For a moment they seemed to glow – to smile – to be transfigured. Then came a flash, as of thought itself. It was the first instantaneous flash of the risen sun. It lasted less than a second. It was gone almost before one could say that it was there. The next moment, mountain, river, and sky were distinct in the steady light of day ; and the colossi – mere colossi now – sat serene and stony in the open sunshine.


Amelia realized that she would need the help of the local villagers to dig the sand away from the entrance so she hired fifty local villagers, who arrived with boat paddles to dig the sand away.
Inside the temple Amelia discovered the entrance to a small square chamber. In her excitement of the initial discovery she reportedly fell to her knees beside the small opening and began digging with her bare hands while still in her skirts. Amelia decided that she would need even more help to excavate the chamber, so the 'next morning came the Sheykh in persson, with his two sons and a following of a hundred men. This was so many more than we had bargained for, that we at once foresaw a scheme to extort money'. The Sheykh however proved to be an honourable man and so 'we therefore received him with honour, invited him to luncheon, and, hoping to get the work quickly, set the men on in gangs, under the superintendence of  Reis


Hassan and the head sailor. By noon, the door was cleared down to the threshold, and the whole south and west walls were laid bare to the floor. They had found  the entrance to a small square chamber, once the sand was cleared both herself and her crew began recording the vivid paintings on the walls, in the chamber one of the crew thrust his fingers into a skull! This was such an amazing and unexpected incident, that for the moment he said nothing, but went on quietly displacing the sand and feeling his way under the surface. The next instant his hand came in contact with the edge of a clay bowl, which he carefully withdrew. It measured about four inches in diameter, was hand-moulded, and full of caked sand. He now proclaimed his discoveries, and all ran to help in the work. Soon a second and smaller skull was turned up, then another bowl, and then, just under the place from which the bowls were taken, the bones of two skeletons all detached, perfectly desiccated, and apparently complete. The remains were those of a child and a small grown person – probably a woman. The teeth were sound ; the bones wonderfully delicate and brittle. As for the little skull (which had fallen apart at the sutures), it was pure and fragile in texture as the cup of a water-lily. We laid the bones aside as we found them, examining every handful of sand, in the hope of discovering something that might throw light upon the burial. But in vain. We found not a shred of clothing, not a bead, not a coin, not the smallest vestige of anything that might help one to judge whether the interment had taken place a hundred years ago or a thousand'

At the Second Cataract, the journey southward ended, and the travellers turned for home stopping at Kom Ombo, Luxor, and finally arriving back in Cairo.

The Double Temple of Kom Ombo

This temple is unique because it's double design has courts, halls, sanctuaries, and rooms duplicated for two sets of Gods. The southern half of the temple id dedicated to the crocodile God Sobek, whilst the northern part of the temple is dedicated to the falcon God Horus

Here Amelia recorded that,  '…there remain only a few giant columns buried to within eight or ten feet of their gorgeous capitals; a superb fragment of architrave; one wave of sculptured cornice and some fallen blocks graven with the names of Ptolemies and Cleopatras.

At Abydos, she felt the temple of Seti I at Abydos to be ' one of the most beautiful of Egyptian ruins',


Karnack temple -Luxor - The Hypostyle Hall

'I stand once more among those mighty columns, which radiate into avenues from whatever point one takes them. I see them swathed in coiled shadows and broad bands of light. I see them sculpted and painted with shapes of Gods and Kings, with blazonings of royal names, with sacrificial altars, and forms of sacred beasts, and emblems of wisdom and truth. The shafts of these columns are enormous. I stand at the foot of one – or of what seems to be the foot ; for the original pavement lies buried seven feet below. Six men standing with extended arms, fingertip to fingertip, could barely span it round. It casts a shadow twelve feet in breadth – such a shadow as might be cast by a tower. The capital that juts out so high above my head looks as if it might have been placed there to support the heavens. It is carved in the semblance of a full-blown lotus, and glows with undying colours – colours that are still fresh, though laid on by hands that have been dust these three thousand years and more. It would take not six men, but a dozen to measure round the curved lip of that stupendous lily.'



Luxor Temple

'I have already said, these half-buried pylons, this solitary obelisk, those giant heads rising in ghastly resurrection before the gates of the Temple, were magnificent still. But it was as the magnificence of a splendid prologue to a poem of which only garbled fragments remain. Beyond that entrance lay a smoky, filthy, intricate labyrinth of lanes and passages. Mud hovels, mud pigeon-towers, mud yards, and a mud mosque, clustered like wasps' nests in and about the ruins. Architraves sculptured with royal titles supported the roofs of squalid cabins. Stately capitals peeped out from the midst of sheds in which buffaloes, camels, donkeys, dogs, and human beings were seen herding together in unsavoury fellowship. Cocks crew, hens, cackled, pigeons cooed, turkeys gobbled, children swarmed, women were baking and gossiping, and all the sordid routine of Arab life was going on, amid winding alleys that masked the colonnades and defaced the inscriptions of the Pharaohs. To trace the plan of this part of the building was then impossible.'


The Ramesseum and the Valley of the Kings on the West Bank

Amelia and her companions witnessed the opening of a tomb near the Ramesseum. Arriving at the Mortuary Temple of Ramses 11 'The Rammessium' Amelia was delighted to find the colossal statue as described by Diodorus as the largest in Egypt.She wrote: 'Ruined almost beyond recognition as it is, one never doubts for a moment that this statue was one of the wonders of Egyptian workmanship.  It most probably repeated in every detail the colossi of Abou Simbel; but it surpassed them as much in finish of carving as in perfection of material.'

Amelia visited the tombs of the Nobles on the hill above the Ramesseum at Qurna,  and the other west bank temples.  Finally they arrived at the Valley of the Kings where she described the tombs : 'To go down into one of these great sepulchres is to descend oneself into the Lower World, and to tread the path of the shades…The atmosphere is suffocating.  The place is ghostly and peopled with nightmares.'

The Sphinx and Pyramid of Khufu at Giza Plateau

One of Amelia’s first excursions in Egypt and on her return to Cairo was to visit the Giza plateau to see the Pyramids and Sphinx. Her first impression was of awe and wonder, and on the return visit, she climbed the Great Pyramid, atop which she marvelled at the theories that abounded about them even then. 'Recognizing how clearly the place is a great cemetery, once marvels at the ingenious theories which turn the pyramids into astronomical observatories, and abstruse standards of measurement.  They are the grandest graves in all the world – and they are nothing more.'


Amelia Edwards Founder of The Egypt Exploration Fund

 In 1882 Amelia joined forces with Reginald Stuart Poole and together they set up the Egypt Exploration Fund (now known as the Egypt Exploration Society) it was dedicated to raising awareness and enthusiasm for Egypt’s past and to help preserve what is left of it. The Exploration fund received money by subscribers so that they could systematically codify archaeology, they engaged in research under the management of W.Flinders-Petrie and Edouard Naville. Flinders Petrie would go on to be known as the father of modern archaeology.

 Amelia's book 'Pharaohs Fellahs and Explorers'

Amelia devoted herself to publicising the need for archaeological research in Egypt by means of writing and lecturing. Her lecture tour brought her to the United States in  1889-90 and resulted in her publication of ' Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers' that was published in 1891.

Amelia dies at home in England

After catching influenza, Amelia died on 15 April 1892. She was buried in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Henbury, Bristol, where her grave is marked by an obelisk, the Symbolism of an Obelisk is to bring the energy of the sun and the God Ra to the words on the Obelisk praising the Pharaoh giving him renewed life and power. There is also laid on the grave a stone ankh the ancient Egyptian symbolism of the Ankh is to give life again, all the temples and tombs show the gods giving the pharaohs' the breath of Life.

Amelia bequeathed her collection of Egyptian antiquities and her library to University College London, with a sum of £2,500 to found an Edwards Chair of Egyptology

All her many notes on the subject of Ancient Egypt, and her watercolours she left to Somerville College at Oxford