We began our day exploring the Valley of the lions. The temple of Wadi El Sebou has a double row of sphinx protecting it from all threats. Like most temples, this one was heavy on glorifying the Pharaoh’s victories, in this case Ramesses II, while dedicating the temple to the gods. There are many friezes depicting Ramses making offerings.

We learned that the ankh symbol represents life and rebirth. Typically, this was received through the breath. One reason why many of the statues we see have the noses broken off was a way vandals had of interfering with the pharaoh’s eternal life.

The Temple of Dakka was another of the relocated Nubian temples, this one journeyed 100 km to its now resting place. It was dedicated to Thoth, god of wisdom and writing in the 3rd century BCE and upgraded several times by Roman emperors. It’s shape is called a Pylon.

We returned to our boat for another wonderful lunch on and had a relaxing afternoon on Lake Nasser. The lake was named for Gamal Abdul Nasser, the president of Egypt during the time the dam was planned and built. It was nice to have a slower day.