The sixth and final day of our trip on Lake Nasser had just a single line posted on the ship's schedule: "Visit Kalabsha Temple."
We were looking forward to seeing this large temple. On previous visits to Aswan, we would follow the typical tourist itinerary which usually includes a visit to the Aswan High Dam, a look at the construction story posted on signs, and a stop at the Soviet Union-Egyptian Friendship Monument. Taking pictures of the lake, I usually asked about the large building appearing in the distance. "That is Kalabsha Temple. You can only reach it by boat." was the usual response. Now, we would finally get to see it!
New Kalabsha
The temple is indeed located on an island, christened "New Kalabsha" about a quarter mile south of the High Dam near the western shore of the lake. As we would soon discover, our visit to the island would take us to four temples, two stellas and a kiosk; some of these would even have differing labels on direction signs.
Even the major "Temple of Kalabsha" had a second name: "The Temple of Mandulis". This sign on the side of the temple seemed to provide a clue to understanding the distinction.
"Old" Kalabsha
To better understand let's examine a bit of history and geography. Geographer John Ball published a detailed map of the upper Nile in 1906 as a result of his surveys of 1898-1902. This 30 mile excerpt shows the area we had just crossed as it looked after the Low Dam had been built in 1902 but long before the High Dam was conceived.
A few kilometers to the south of the Bab was a community, Kalabsha, with a magnificent temple dedicated to the ancient god, Mandulis. North of the Bab was a small temple (in Roman times) of Taffa or Taffe and a community of Taifa or Taphis.
These two temples and the Bab, but especially the temple at Kalabsha, caught the eye of any traveler in the area.
In 1838, the artist Hector Horeau passed through the area doing a number of sketches and water colors. (Horeau's Egyptian work can be found at the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford and a nice collection is online here.) Horeau found quite a jumbled mass of columns and stones in front of the portico of the large temple at Kalabsha.
But in 1874, Amelia Edwards, writing her notes to include in "A Thousand Miles Up the Nile," observed:
The temple, however, is conceived on a grand scale. It is the Karnak of Nubia. But it is a Karnak that has evidently been visited by a shock of earthquake far more severe than that which shook the mighty pillars of the hypostyle hall and flung down the obelisk of Hatasu. From the river it looks like a huge fortress; but, seen from the threshold of the main gateway, it is a wilderness of ruin. Fallen blocks, pillars, capitals, entablatures, lie so extravagantly piled that there is not one spot in all those halls and courtyards upon which it is possible to set one’s foot on the level of the original pavement.
Apparently, the earthquake put a finish to the construction of the temple as Edwards continues:
... the earthquake seems to have come before the work was completed. There are figures outlined on the walls, but never sculptured. Others have been begun, but never finished. You can see where the chisel stopped—you can even detect which was the last mark it made on the surface.
One traces here, in fact, the four processes of wall decoration. In some places the space is squared off and ruled by the mechanic; in others, the subject is ready drawn within those spaces by the artist. Here the sculptor has carried it a stage farther; yonder the painter has begun to color it.
A fairly recent (1970) study of Roman military roads in the area describes the geology near Kalabsha:
Kalabsha itself occupied a critical, controlling position, lying just above the southern entrance to the Bab al-Kalabsha, where steep granite cliffs, falling direct to the water's edge, completely barred any foot passage along the riverside and where rapids impeded progress by water. The stretch to the north of Kalabsha lay between it and Taphis at the northern entrance to the Bab, where riverside foot-traffic resumed.
David Roberts captured another view of the temple from the opposite side of the Nile which shows the steep terrain in the background. The temple is located on the west side of the river so the rising cliffs on the right side lead north toward the Bab el Kalabsha.
Back to the Present
After breakfast, we left the ship with our small band of English-speakers and guide, Salim, on the usual launch for a twenty-minute trip west along the edge of the High Dam past the large lotus-shaped Soviet-Egyptian Friendship Monument to the New Kalabsha island promontory where we disembarked and headed up the ramp to the salvaged temple.
Like Abu Simbel, this temple had been cut up into thousands of blocks and moved to its new location then reassembled like a jigsaw puzzle. This was accomplished during 1962-63 by the German contractor, Hochtief, the company that would be awarded the contract for the Abu Simbel move. We didn't immediately enter the temple, but began the tour by following the path past this sign.
To dwell on that sign for a moment:
The Beit al-Wali (house of the governor) was a small temple cut into the stone near the very large free-standing temple of Mandulis at Kalabsha.
A Mammisi is a small "birth house" temple attached or near a temple such as the large temple of Mandulis honoring the birth of the temple's god. When we arrive at this Mammisi, it will be labeled as the Chapel of Dedwen (also sometimes referenced as Deduan)
The Open-Air Museum holds a variety of objects, including several ancient petroglyphs (primitive animal images carved in stone) and the significant Stela of Sety I found at Qasr Ibrim (our first stop after leaving Abu Simbel).
The Kiosk of Qertassi (Qertassi can also be found spelled as Kardassy, Kardeseh, or Gartass) is a small unfinished portion of a Roman temple found about ten miles north of the old Kalabsha temple site.
The temple of Garf Hussein comes from a about twenty miles farther south of the Kalabsha site.
With that overview out of the way, let's dive in and visit the temples on the island, finally returning to the large Kalabsha temple at the end.
The Temple of Beit al-Wali
We began the tour of New Kalabsha Island at the temple of Beit al-Wali. Salim pointed out several items faintly carved into the long, decorated wall near the entrance to the temple.
Compare the entrance at the original setting and the present entrance. The small temple was rescued from the flood waters by a Polish archaeological team.
The Maltese crosses carved alongside the entrance testify to the buildings later use as a Christian shrine. Inside, the early pharonic paintings would have been plastered over and paintings of the saints decorated the interior. This actually protected the original artwork through the centuries.
Inside, the stone reliefs and colors seemed particularly well preserved.
Linda moved in close to look at the well preserved colors.
There were three statues of the temple's dedicated gods located at the rear in the sanctuary.
Researching the archives for material for this blog post, I came upon a couple of references noting that while the interior colors were of good quality, they and particularly the exterior color had been largely removed by early visitors before photography became widely available with a recording process known as the "wet paper squeeze." The only color remaining could now be found in the British Museum in London!
Paper squeezes were produced extensively in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
across Egypt and the wider Middle East and can be found in archives and museum collections throughout the world. They are, in their simplest form, a one-to-one impression of carved inscriptions, made of thick paper. They vary in size from a few centimetres to metres long.... Squeeze production was considered an effective and simple means of producing accurate records of carved inscriptions.
...Unfortunately, on painted surfaces, the water required to produce paper impressions caused paint to lift and traces of colour can be found on the verso of some squeezes.
That description comes from a PhD thesis written about "squeezes." It seems that there was more than just "traces of colour" removed. Many museums hid their squeezes and derivative plaster castings away out of embarrassment - especially after the process was outlawed in Egypt in 1904 (which didn't stop it, of course.)
Travelers who came upon the Temple of Bait al-Wali in the 19th century were awestruck at the quality and beauty of some of the color that had survived centuries.
Consider, in the image below, this page of pen and ink sketches from this small temple captured in 1878 and published in Nile Gleanings by By Villiers Stuart.
The two (paintings) which interested us most were in the inner chamber. They represent (Ramses) returning from his first campaign at the early age of sixteen, and being received by his mother, who embraces him most affectionately. His features are drawn with equal care. The group is repeated on each side of the entrance.
It is evident that these bas-reliefs had not yet been discovered by that terrible destroyer the British tourist, for the colours were nearly as fresh as the day they were first laid on ; even the colour of her eyes was still preserved—a hazel grey.
...One cannot gaze upon these portraits without emotion, when one calls to mind that they are the portraits of those who lived before the time of Moses. The bas-reliefs I have described are in the most obscure recess of this rock temple, and they appear to have escaped notice. I have not met with any mention of them in any author or in any guide-book. The remaining sculptures are well known and have often been described. It is evident that the events they commemorate cover a considerable portion of the life of Rameses. There are wars in the south against the Ethiopians, and wars in the north-east against the people of Syria, and there are the usual conclusions at which all ancient wars arrived, viz., the payment of tribute by the vanquished.
Note, especially, the lower left portion of that page.
A portion of the images found in the temple was lifted with a "wet-squeeze" and preserved as a plaster cast, then repainted in "original colors" to hang in the British Museum. Hans Ollerman, a prolific photographer of art museums (he has over 20,000 items in his Egyptology collection on Flickr) captured this image of the resulting plaster cast on a visit to the British Museum.
We certainly didn't see anything resembling such vivid colors inside the relocated temple! But noting Villiers Stuart's comment about images being reused - especially at the entrance - I went back and looked closely at the carvings in stone that our guide, Salim, had been pointing out to us.
Yes, there it was!
It is quite interesting to compare those three images in detail. Using the head of the goose and the monkey on the back of the cow to line things up, the two children riding in the basket of the lady (third figure from the left) is a perfect match. The alignment of the figures in Stuart's sketches suggests that he may have used a camera obscura to produce them although it is not mentioned in his book.
That is probably enough of an introduction to the contents of the New Kalabsha island and historical review for one blog post. I'll continue the tour of the remaining spots on the island in a second post.
But as long as I am comparing old and new, here is a photograph that includes the two David Roberts paintings of the Kalabsha temple with comparable views in the new setting.
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