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The first thing you notice is the bright blue water, in sharp contrast to the dusty desert land through which you've been traveling. |
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You follow a path around a small hill, then notice some hieroglyphics have been carved into the side of the hill... |
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Then you suddenly see the huge figures of Ramses the Great. They dwarf everything around them, which is probably just the kind of effect that Ramses had in mind. |
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A religious guy, like all pharaohs, he had a temple of Hathor built too. But then Ramses was a god, too, at least in his own opinion. |
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For a second opinion, you might ask these captured slaves, chained together by the necks in this carving, one of several such images at Abu Simbel. Since Abu Simbel was built near the border with ancient Nubia, you might suspect that this monument was built with intimidation in mind almost as much as self-aggrandizement. |
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On to Aswan