Soggy Moose Travels : SAILING LAKE NASSER CONTINUED

Sunday, February 19, 2017

SAILING LAKE NASSER CONTINUED

Day 10 More Sailing on Lake Nasser:

This morning we were up and on the Sun Deck for Sunrise. We then had an early breakfast as we were off the ship at 0730 making our way to the Temple of Wadi as-Subua. This temple was also built by Ramses II and is known for the Avenue of the Sphinxes and was dedicated to the Amun Ra and Ra Harakhty. In later years this temple was converted into a Christian Church and one can faintly see images of Saints.

This temple and all the Temples we visited on Lake Nasser were moved to higher ground for preservation as the water in Lake Nasser rose with the building of the High Dam. All the relocating of the temples was made possible through UNESCO and the cooperation of many countries.

We then had a nice long hike to the Temple of Dakka, we were rather glad this was done during the cool morning hours. The Temple of Dakka was started by the Ethiopian King Arkamani in the 3ed century BC and added onto during the Ptolemaic and Roman Eras. Here we found some amazing reliefs in excellent condition.

Next we walked to the Temple of Maharaka which dates to Roman times. Compared to the Egyptian temples this temple is rather unremarkable as one does not find any reliefs, just columns.

We walked down to the beach and boarded the motor boat taking us back to the ship.

We next had a tour of the ship’s galley, Royal Suites and the Bridge. The galley is huge and the sanitation efforts are very evident. The Royal suites are nice and roomy with a very very large bath room. The bridge was simple and here were learned the Captain is a many generation Nile River Captain with many years of experience.

Lake Nasser is a vast reservoir in Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan. The lake was created as a result of the High Dam project which required the relocation of Egypt’s Nubian community. In Sudan the river port of Wadi Halfa was lost beneath the waters. The lake is 340 miles long and 20 miles across at the widest point, as it covers an area of 2,030 square miles.

We must continually thank UNESCO for the amazing relocation of the Temples which would have been lost had they not have been relocated. Yet, I also wonder how many sites were not found and now probably lost due to the building of the dam.