The thousands of visitors who gathered to see the sun align with Ramses II witnessed something else phenomenal instead. For the first time in history, the event wasn’t visible!
4000 tourists, along with many government officials, flocked to the temple of King Ramses II temple in Abu Simbel, Aswan on Monday to witness the alignment phenomenon where the sun shines into the temple and reflects on the king’s statue and lights up the whole temple.
This phenomenon takes place twice every year, in October and February. However, this time around spectators were highly disappointed as the weather conditions and fog obscured the sun and the fascinating event did not go as expected, even though a lot of procedures were taken for the event to go as smoothly as possible.
The general director of Abu Simbel Antiquities Department, Hossam Abboud, said the phenomenon was obscured by fog, although every effort was made to ensure it was visible. This was clearly visible as strict security measurements were implemented to ensure the safety of the antiquities and attendees.
However, the event wasn’t all disappointment, during the wait for the phenomenon to occur, the attendees were entertained by 15 popular artist groups and performers, eight of which were local and seven were from abroad.
We sure hope this isn’t a bad omen for the future!
