The Morning the Sun Reaches the Gods
Twice a year at sunrise, the light reaches deep into a temple carved into a cliff in Egypt and lights up three of four statues. The fourth, a god of the underworld, stays in shadow.
What was reported
The Great Temple at Abu Simbel was carved into a sandstone cliff by Pharaoh Ramesses II around 1260 BCE, with four colossal statues of him outside. Its corridor runs about 60 metres into the rock, to a sanctuary with four seated gods.
On two mornings a year, the rising Sun shines straight down the corridor and lights up the statues of Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ramesses himself. Ptah, a god linked with the underworld, remains in darkness.
Explanations offered
The temple was aligned with the sunrise on purpose. In the 1960s, the whole temple was cut into blocks and moved up the hill to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser; the alignment was kept, but the dates moved by about a day.
- When
- Every year around 22 February and 22 October
- Where
- Abu Simbel, Aswan, Egypt
- Witnesses
- Thousands of visitors at dawn
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
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