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Ezzat Sameh – Ahram Online
In a spectacular scene, the sun aligned this Tuesday morning on the statue of King Ramses II in the massive Abu Simbel temple in Aswan.
The rare alignment was admired by hundreds of visitors. The sun rays aligned at exactly 6:20am and lasted for approximately 20 minutes. The unique celestial phenomenon occurs twice a year with the first on 22 February and the second on 22 October.
During the phenomenon, rays of the sun sneak through the temple’s corridor. It eventually reaches the Holy of Holies chamber where a statue of king Ramses II sits among three other giant statues of Ra-Horakhty next to those of the gods Amun and Ptah.
Egyptologists and archaeologists believe that the alignment signalled the start of the ancient Egyptians’ farming season in October and the harvest season in February.
On Monday evening a major musical and folklore dance show was organised at the Abu Simbel temple in Aswan ahead of the biannual solar alignment at the site. The event was attended by Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled al-Enany, Minister of Culture Ines Abdel Dayyim and the Governor of Aswan Ashraf Attiya.
