Vic's Pics

[Vic Balshaw]

Still in Egypt, this time we have sailed up the Nile to the Temple of Horus at Edfu and then after a short afternoon sail we arrived for the evening at Kom Ombo Temple.

Pic 1. The Temple of Horus. The classic shape of these temples, the two high walls with the entrance between derives from the high mountains either side of the Nile.

Pic 2. One of the many column Capitals, this one represents the papyrus reed that we often see made into sheets and painted in vivid colours. Queen Nefertiti is a classic example.

Pic 3 4. They say that as you move up the Nile, the temples and hieroglyphics get better. This is so true as the influence of the Greeks and Romans shows through in the sculptured carving, the images showing more detailed relief.

Pic 5. Sparrows, they get everywhere.

Pic 6. For the ladies, the latest Kom Ombo fashions.

Pic 7 8. Again, no flash used and both shots show the more detailed relief on the stone carving.

Pic 9. Kom Ombo Temple at nightfall.

 

[Gnomey]

Great stuff Vic!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

The night shots are excellent sir!

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Excellent pictures Vic.


Wheels

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Today we visit the temple of Philae at Aswan. The miracle of this temple in my opinion is that it has been moved stone by stone from it's original site and re-constructed on an island in exactly the same construction and aspect as the original sight. The temple is between the Aswan Dam and the Aswan High Dam.

Pic 1. Having fought through the melee of people and boats to get our ride to the temple island, we set out.

Pic 2. The temple as we circle round the island.

Pic 3 4. Walking towards the temple, the columns were not constructed by the Egyptians, but by the Greeks who wanted to stamp their influence on Upper Egypt. As you can see in pic 4, the Greeks were not particular about getting the line of columns in line with the temple's entrance.

Pic 5. The very well defined hieroglyphics on an outer wall and partly obscured by a Greek addition.

Pic 6 7. The entrance way to the temple, note on the left of the door is a Christian cross added in the 6th Century when the temple became a Christian church.

Pic 8. A column capstone which shows the later influences of Greco-Roman rule.

Pic 9. A final picture as we sail back to Aswan.

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Vic!

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Great shots of the art work Vic!! I never realized how intricate it is. Thanks for the education sir.

 

[GrauGeist]

Awesome!

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Excellent pictures!


Wheels

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks everyone, it's nice to be able to share them. Will continue the trip tomorrow.

 

[evangilder]

Great stuff. It is amazing to see work that was done without power tools that has that kind of detail.

 

[T Bolt]

Excellent pictures. My daughters 6th grade class is studying ancient Egypt now and she knows all the gods and who they were. She'll love your pictures 8)

 

[Wayne Little]

Amazing pics....thanks Vic!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Were now almost at the end of our Nile tour. On the final afternoon we took a Felucca sail along the Nile before visiting the local market. On the final day we flew to Abu Simbel the site of the statues of Ramses II Neferrtiti before flying onto Cairo and then driving to Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.

Pic 1. I'd often heard about this obelisk, one that is incomplete. All the obelisk's were made from a single piece of red marble only found in Aswan. This particular on cracked as it was being chipped out of the bedrock, now no longer any good, it was abandoned.

Pic 2 3. Felucca's on the Nile.

Pic 4. On the west side of the Nile the desert encroaches right to the waters edge. The tracks on the hill lead to more tombs, mainly of the former dignitaries of early days of Aswan town.

Pic 5. A flock of Flamingos circling around.

Pic 6. A spice shop in the Aswan market. We were shown around by our guide who lived in Aswan and it seemed that he knew everybody in town.

Pic 7 to 11. All are shots of the statues (temple) of Ramses II Neferrtiti and were removed from Nubai as the Nile flooded following the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Again, each stone has been removed and relocated in exactly the same prospective as the original site constructed by the ancient Egyptians between 1244 1224BC.

 

[evangilder]

 

[Gnomey]

Nice shots Vic!

 

[wheelsup_cavu]

Good stuff Vic.


Wheels

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

More great stuff Vic. Thank you for sharing sir.

 

[beaupower32]

I watched a 2 hour documentry on Egypt the other day on the History channel. It was very intresting. They talked about Queen Hatshepsut for a good 20 minutes of the show. You are right Vic in saying that she would dress like a man to desgise herself. One of her leading engineers she had a "love affair" with. There are even some Explicit hieroglyphics of them 2 getting their jollys on. Anyways, great pictures, I really like looking and learing about Egypt.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Thanks guys much appreciated. As part of our Egypt tour we had a day trip to El Alamein from Alexandria. Not a pilgrimage as such for neither of us lost relatives in that epic 4 year battle but it was always somewhere I had wanted to visit and what a humbling experience.

Pic 1 to 4. A small selection of the model kits that are on display at the El Alamein musium.

Pic 5. After reading this account of the conflict, I just had to share it with you.

Pic 6. One of the many photographs the adorn the wall of the museum.

Pic 7 to 13. Some of the campaign armour and artillery salvaged from the desert or in the case of the aircraft, the sea.

Pic 14. Just one part of the huge allies cemetery at El Alamein.