Every year on 22nd February, and again in October, the sun reaches through the interior of the Temple of Abu Simbel to illuminate the rear wall. There was some doubt whether the temple was going to be open for the special event this year but it has been confirmed that it will be, as well as a special sound and light show.
The video is not Abu Simbel. (No prizes for spotting that.) It's the Horsetail Falls in Yosemite. For a brief period in February, if the conditions are right, the sun turns the falls to golden yellow or fiery red earning them the name Firefalls. In these days of mundane science it shows what marvels the sun can still create. Imagine how special the sun must have been to the ancient Egyptians. Videos like this might help us, just for a fleeting moment, to recapture the sense of wonder and magic they must have felt at Abu Simbel when it was first constructed.
This article from News from the Valley of the Kings © Kate Phizackerley is offered on a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Licence 3.0 unless otherwise noted. Please visit the blog to join the discussion.
You may reproduce articles if this notice is included unaltered and there are no adverts on your page. Comments © individual authors may not be reproduced.
