Day 2: Kalabsha

We used the morning to have refreshing swim in the hotel pool. At twelve we had to check in at our cruise ship the Kasr Ibrim. The Kasr Ibrim was docked in the Sadd al Ali port on Lake Nasser near the High Dam. Many Sudanese were waiting here for the regular ferry boat to Wadi Halfa in Sudan. We boarded and checked in our room. Everything on board up to the smallest details was beautifully decorated in 1930s Art Deco style. We had lunch on board and in the afternoon our guide took is in a small motorboat to the island where the temples of Kalabsha and Beit Al Wali and the Kiosk of Kertassi are now located. All these where moved from their original location by a UNESCO organised consortium in the 60s,when the High Dam was build and the rising water treatened these temples.

The Temple of Kalabsha, Beit al Wali and the Kiosk of Kertassi on the Lake Nasser Island

Kalabsha
The temple of Kalabsha was built in the late Ptolemaic period and finished by emperor Augustus between 30 BC and 14 AD. It is dedicated to the Egyptian-Nubian composite god Horus-Mandulis and to Isis and Osiris. The a hypostyle hall leads to the inner sanctuary has beautiful reliefs. A nice detail is are the empty cartouches, left blank because it was not clear at the time which pharaoh was ruling.

The God Mandulis and the empty cartouches

Kiosk of Kertassi and prehistoric rockart
The Kiosk of Kertassi is a relatively small feature with two nice Hathor columns.

The kiosk of Kertassi

Near the kiosk are also some rock slabs with prehistoric rock carvings that were salvaged from the same, now submerged, site. Interestingly, these carvings were very similar to some of the rock art we saw earlier in the Gilf Kebir.

prehistoric rockart

Beit al Wali
The temple of Beit Al Wali (= house of the holy man in Arabic) was originally build by Ramses II and dedicated to Amun-Ra. On the walls there are fine reliefs. Interestingly, one shows Ramses taking his enemies by their hair and smashing their heads.

Ramses II takes his enemies by their hair

All sites on the island were very impressive, even more so when you consider that all off them have been dismantled block by block, moved and rebuild.