UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Nubia before Napata ( — 3100 to — 750)
develop the gold mines there, which his father had unsuccessfully attempted
to exploit. The viceroy of Kush, who was present, explained the difficulty
to the king and related the fruitless attempt of his father to supply the
route with water. However, another attempt was ordered by the king and it
proved successful, for water was reached only twelve cubits below the depth
dug by his father, Seti I. At Kuban, where the road leading to the Wadiel-Alaki
mines left the Nile valley, a stele was erected commemorating this
achievement.
Ramses II initiated enormous building activities in Nubia. He built
temples at Beit-el-Wali, Gerf Hussein, Wadi-es-Sebua, Derr, Abu Simbel
and Aksha in Lower Nubia, and at Amara and Barkal in Upper Nubia.
As for Amara, the excavations carried out there 81 have shown that the
town was founded by Seti I, while the temple was the work of Ramses II.
This town was continuously occupied during the nineteenth and twentieth
dynasties. Amara is thought to have been the residence of the viceroy of
Kush. 82
The temple of Abu Simbel, one of the largest rock-cut structures in
the whole world, is no doubt a unique piece of architectural work. 83 It is
hewn into a great head of sandstone rock on the left bank of the Nile.
The site of this great temple was perhaps selected because the place was
considered sacred long before the temple was cut there. It was dedicated to
Re-Harakhte, the god of the rising sun, who is represented as a man with
the head of a falcon wearing the solar disc.
On the façade of the temple of Abu Simbel are four colossal seated
statues cut out of the living rock. The seated statues, two on each side of
the entrance, represent Ramses II wearing the double crown of Egypt. The
entrance opens directly into the great hall where two rows of four-square
pillars are seen. On the front of these pillars are gigantic standing statues
of the king, again wearing the double crown. On the walls of the great
hall, which are 30 feet high, there are scenes and inscriptions concerning
religious ceremonies and the Pharaoh's military activities against the
Hittites in Syria and the Nubians in the south. In the north and west walls
of the same hall are doors leading into several storerooms with only
religious reliefs on their walls. From the great hall and through the central
door in the west wall, there is a small hall. Its roof is supported by four
square pillars and the reliefs on its walls are again of a religious nature.
There is another room just before the sanctuary. This room has three
doors in its west wall; the two on either side give access to smaller rooms
without inscriptions on their walls, and the one in the middle leads into
the Holy of Holies in which Ramses II is enthroned as a god beside the
three most powerful gods of Egypt, namely, Amon-Re of Thebes, Re-
81. H. W. Fairman, 1938; 1939, pp. 139-44; 1948, pp. 1-11.
82. A. J. Arkell, 1961, p. 94.
83. W. B. Emery, 1965, p. 194.
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