Hundreds of tourists and locals crowded outside a 3,000-year-old Egyptian temple before dawn Thursday, with some camping overnight to secure a view of a twice-yearly solar phenomenon.
The gathering at Abu Simbel, in southern Egypt, marked one of two annual dates when a golden beam of sunlight penetrates the Great Temple of Ramesses II and illuminates statues deep inside its inner chamber. The alignment occurs on Oct. 22 and Feb. 22, dates tied to the pharaoh’s ascension and birthday.
The illumination lasts roughly 20 minutes. Inside the temple, visitors packed together in near-total darkness, watching light travel about 60 meters (200 feet) to reach the statues of Ramesses II and the gods Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty, according to the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics.
“Today is a very special day, as you can see. It’s a celebration and a historic holiday,” Hisham Khela, a local tour guide for Italian tourists, said.
Outside, the scene mixed ancient grandeur with modern pilgrimage. Egyptology enthusiasts and other visitors stood in a messy single-file line, phone cameras raised, some gripping selfie sticks, many showing the fatigue of pre-dawn wake-up calls. The crowds appeared small against the giant statues lining the temple, which overlooks the Nile.
Colorfully dressed performers danced in front of the temple to meditative chimes, tabla percussion and the sound of mizmars, an ancient Egyptian trumpet, as part of the commemoration.
For some travelers, the experience marked a first encounter with Egypt that they vowed would not be their last. Janice Souudi, who traveled from Atlanta, Georgia, said she came for the massive temple statues and their remarkable preservation.
“I came here today for the huge temple statues and how well preserved they are. But I was most impressed with the colors of the carvings and hieroglyphics and imagery,” she said. “Beautiful, stunning, worth it!”
The temple’s solar alignment has survived a dramatic relocation. In the 1960s, archaeologists dismantled and moved the entire complex to save it from rising waters created by the Aswan High Dam. Engineers carefully preserved the structure’s orientation to the sun, ensuring the light continues to enter more than three millennia after the temple was built.
The Feb. 22 illumination will bring another pre-dawn gathering to Abu Simbel.