Everybody has goals. Most of us sit around and hope that our goals will find us instead of us finding them, while others run to their goals. They want to achieve their goals and work for them. I have many goals in life as do many people. Whenever I think of my goals they always have to do with travel. I've always wanted to travel the world and I would like to travel all across Egypt and learn about the history of it. Ever since I was about 7 years old I have always wanted to go to historical sites that are hundreds of years old and explore the insides. Recently I have been doing a lot of research on many different historical sites located in Egypt. 1 historical site that caught my eye was The Abu Simbel. When doing my research The Abu Simbel is a man-carved temple with 4 frontal statues covering the front.

The Abu Simbel is a temple that is located in Abu Simbel, Egypt, hence the name. The Abu Simbel Temple was carved out of a sandstone mountainside off the west bank of the Nile River. The Abu Simbel was built by Pharoah Ramses II in the 13 Century BC. According to Cleopatra Egypt Tours, The Abu Simbel temple was made as a dedication to the 3 Gods Amon, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah. The Abu Simbel Temple is one of the temples or pyramids built during the reign of Ramesses II. According to Daily News Egypt, every year Abu Simbel gets an estimated 6,000 Egyptian citizens or tourists per year. According to City-Facts, Abu Simbel has a population of 6,680 citizens. The population is about 66% male and 34% women. According to Journey to Egypt, “Interesting Facts Abu Simbel Tempel To Know”, The Abu Simbel was built in 1200 B.C. The Abu Simbel Temple is 2 individual temples and they were both built during the reign of King Ramesses II. One temple was built for Ramesses II and the other was built for his wife Queen Nefetari.

 According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Amon” last updated on March 2, 2023, Amon was an Egyptian deity who was revered as “king of the gods”. A deity is a god or a goddess. Amon was worshipped as the Theban Triad. The Theban Triad is a group of Egyptian Gods more popular around the area of Thebes, Egypt. Amun was the “God of the Air”. In Greek, Amun is Amonrasonther. According to Mythopedia, “Amun” last updated on November 9, 2022, Amun’s name meant “the hidden one,” as a reference to his omnipresence. Omnipresence means “widely or constantly encountered”. Amun did not have a cult, however; he was very commonly associated with Air, hence the name “The God of the Air”.  What was Amon known for? According to Chapman University, “The Power Of Amon-Ra”, published December 5, 2018, Amon was mostly recognized as “The Sun God”. Amon was known for creating the entire universe. Amon was not the only sun god there was during his time. Amon-Ra was a form of a Sun God.

 According to World History Encyclopedia, “Ra (Egyptian God)”, The King Ra-Horakhty or also commonly known as “Horakhty” is the sun god of ancient Egypt. The word Ra stands for the sun in Egyptian as a solar deity. Ra and the people who worshipped him all thought that Ra was the actual sun itself. World History Encyclopedia states that “Ra was envisioned as the great god riding in his barge across the heavens throughout the day and descending into the underworld at sunset”. Ra-Horakhaty had his own cult. Ra’s cult was at the center of the city of Iunu. Iunu is also known by its greek name, Heliopolis, which means “city of the sun god”. According to Vision, “A City of Two Tales”, the people who were in his cult mostly believed that Heliopolis was the original place of origin. According to Project Global Awakening, The people believed that Ra embodied the power of the sun. The reason why the people believed what they did was because it was believed that, “that was the greatest home of their greatest deity”.

Who was Ptha? According to ThoughtCO. Last updated on October 02, 2019, “Ptah is the creator god of the Memphite theology”. According to History Cooperation, “Ptah: Egypt’s God of Craft and Creation, Ptah was also the being who existed before all and brought everything else into existence. A title that Ptah used to go by was “The Begetter of the First Beginning”. In old Egyptian religions, it was very popular to group different kings into triads or groups of three. Ptah was the first original deity of Memphis, Egypt from the 1st dynasty onward. Within the political importance of Memphis, it helped spread the Ptah cult all across Egypt. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “Ptah”, February 13, 2020, in the Ptah cult the people believed that Ptah was the “creator-god and maker of things, patron of craftsman, especially sculptors”. Throughout all of the time that Ptah was ruler, he was continually considered the “primary god of the city”. Ptah was considered one of if not the most famous rulers that ever ruled over the land. 

Hopefully one day I will be able to get a guided tour of the Abu Simbel because writing this blog has required me to do more research about the kings that once ruled over the lands. Before doing research about this, I have barely ever heard the name “Abu Simbel”. I have only ever heard the name "Abu Simbel" not more than three times. In school, I really wished that they would teach us topics like this because this is a topic that intrigues me and many more students. Hopefully, when I am older I am able to learn more about this topic than I already do now from professionals rather than sitting at my desk doing research about it.