The gods and the mortal Photo

Photographer’s Note

Last post from Abu Simbel.
This is the entrance of the other temple situated a little further north from the Sun Temple that I showed you in my previous posts. It's the temple of the Queen Nefertari and it's much smaller, but not less impressive than the Sun Temple.
Again, you can see gigantic statues of Ramses and the contrast of scale with the guard seen at the entrance. Instead of 20m high in the Sun Temple, these colossi have ony 9m high. Even the child of Ramses & Nefertari seen at left is bigger than the mortal.
In spite of being the Temple of the Queen, it's still Ramses that show up at the entrance. The Queen is placed on the sides and can be seen in the picture of the whole façade, in WS.

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WS - panoramic view of the whole façade.

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Information about the Hathor Temple of Queen Nefertari:

A little further north of the Sun Temple stands the smaller rock-hewn Temple of Queen Nefertari, identified here with the goddess Hathor, who was wife to the sun-god during his day's passage and mother to his rebirth at dawn. As with Ramses' temple, the rock-hewn facade imitates a receding pylon (whose corvetto cornice has fallen), its plane accentuated by a series of rising buttresses separating six colossal statues of Ramses and Nefertari (each over 9m tall), which seem to emerge from the rock. Each is accompanied by two smaller figures of their children, who stand knee-high in the shadows. A frieze of cobras protects the door into the temple, which is simpler in plan than Ramses', having but one columned hall and vestibule, and only two lateral chambers; it runs 24m into the hillside.
The best reliefs are in the hall with square, Hathor-headed pillars whose sides show the royal couple mingling with deities. On the entrance wall Nefertari watches Ramses slay Egypt's enemies; on the side walls she participates in rituals as his equal, appearing before Anuket (left) and Hathor (right). In the transverse vestibule beyond, the portal of the sanctuary is flanked by scenes of the royal couple offering wine and flowers to Amun-Re and Horus (left), Re-Herakhte, Khnum, Satet and Anuket (right). The Sanctuary niche contains a ruined cow-statue of Hathor, above which vultures guard Nefertari's cartouches. On the side walls, she offers incense to Mut and Hathor (left), while Ramses worships his own image and that of Nefertari (right). The predominance of yellow in the paintings may allude to Hathor's title, "The Golden One".

Source: Rough Guide book to Egypt.

patdeph, Didi, Photo65Net, paura, lucasgalodoido, Gerrit, ribeiroantonio, papagolf21, zeynepe, carper, feather, Cricri, Emile, bibiweb, AiresSantos, Henryk_Bilor, ChrisJ, stego, xuaxo has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

saparot (1756) 2008-11-28 11:56

Salut RicardO

je reviens d'Egypte et encore plein de souvenir dans la tête ....
tu me fais plaisir avec tes belles photos ...
c'est pas évident de prendre des photos sans les touristes ;-)))

jean-paul

patdeph (17332) 2008-11-28 12:06

hello ricardo
splendid and impressive!Tho POV is great,to show how big is this temple!The lonely Egyptian man could give the impression that the place is very quiet,but we know that hundreds of people come here every day!But the photo is magnificent!
Regards
Pascale

Didi (35648) 2008-11-28 12:08

Salam dear Neighbor سلام يا جاري

You had a nice journey in my birth country
Interesting lights on the temple, it's not harsh lights.
The frame is well done, but I think you should use my stitch method :)
Obrigado.
Best regards.

delic (6735) 2008-11-28 12:36

A familiar shot, Ric, one that I remember well and like a lot. The white clothed man below the two giants provides an impressive juxtaposition. Excellent capture. Regards,
Hakan

Photo65Net (43084) 2008-11-28 12:41

Hello Ricardo,
Superb perspective here !
Nice job using wide angle, I like alot the result, with great interest.
Have a nice day,
JB.

paura (37682) 2008-11-28 12:45

Ricardo,
Excelente a inclusão do cidadão para se ter a exta noção da dimensão do monumento. A imagem é linda e as cores estão excelentes.

Abraço

Paulo

lucasgalodoido (16525) 2008-11-28 12:59

Olá Ricardo,
bem interessante mesmo essa foto, pois dá pra comparar bem o tamanho do homem com as esculturas. Gosto das cores também, enfim, mais uma bela foto sua.
Parabéns e Abraço

chris04stop (2143) 2008-11-28 13:42

A great idea, Ricardo! A very good shot: the two monumental ancient kings and the small, small man. Oh, men are so often small in our world! Bravissimo Ricardo!
Anna Paola
P.S.: Again? Again a photo of me? Because that's just me on the left side...Please, Ricardo: stop to take pictures about me... this is embarassing, now...

jmdias (18661) 2008-11-28 14:06

ricardo

muito boa a luz e as cores, o homem está muito bem ali comn suas roupas típicas. gosto do enquadramento e da vista deste templo que nunca havia visto antes. belo o lugar e vc arrancou uma bela foto dali, parabéns

abraços

jorge

Gerrit (35393) 2008-11-28 16:38

Hi Ric,
great POV. The distortion is interesting and the combination of the huge statues and the little man in white is a fine contrast in tones, and in texture.
Regards, gerrit

ribeiroantonio (21709) 2008-11-28 17:02

Gosto de ver os pormenores anatómicos das estátuas e a posição dos braços no caso do rei e da rainha. Já na altura colocavam os braços da rainha a tapar o peito.
Este templo também foi transladado?
António

emka (21127) 2008-11-29 0:00

Hi Ric, Another splendid shot from Abu Simbel. looking at your photos I miss Egypt and its mysterios atmospere. Nice addition of the man at the entrance - it is the main accent here. regards

Małgorzata

pablominto (39848) 2008-11-29 1:10

Hello Ricardo,

The guys that build something like this to make the world remember them must have had some huge egos...!
To our benefit, I may add, so we can enjoy the artwork of those days...
Excellent framing, well composed with fine details...
And no photography inside..!

Greetings,
Pablo -

siamesa (12325) 2008-11-29 1:17

Bom dia Ricardo,
Gosto muito de suas fotos desses templos . Uma excelente apresentação das esculturas e do mortal mostrando a escala real do tamanho delas. Esses dois fizeram história mesmo.
Abraços
Maria

papagolf21 (55860) 2008-11-29 1:22

Bonjour, cher ami Ricardo,
L'on se sent bien petit à côté de ces temples et l'on ne peut qu'admirer ces architectes qui ont su édifier de telles merveilles.
La magie opère toujours autant. Quel bonheur de pouvoir contempler ces prodiges après tant de siècles.
Un grand merci de faire revivre un merveilleux voyage effectué en 1996.
Amitiés.
Philippe

zeynepe (9328) 2008-11-29 1:29

When I look at the image , as if I heard a conversation between them.
The mortal said:"Maybe as a mortal I can experience something I could never have as a god. Feelings can't exist without the risk of loss. The gods are immortal. What can an immortal possibly know about loss?"
The Gods were shocked then they understood that the giant statues didn't mean anything.
Ola Ric,
Another great photo from you, maybe a wide lens or stitching technics can be better but I know your conditions:)
enjoy your cold weekend,
Zeynep

carper (63877) 2008-11-29 2:42

fantastic Ricardo,
what a shot, here you realy can se how little people are, good composition, good quality job, have a good weekend dear friend.
regard jaap

feather (49848) 2008-11-29 3:58

This is a wonderful little mini-series within your travelogue (Why not set up a travelogue?) Having the man there is perfect for scale, just as you intended. Somehow the scale is even more impressive on the WS. I can't quite explain why; maybe the man sitting down in the shade of one of the statues.
Kath

delkoo (33888) 2008-11-29 5:56

bonjour ricardo,
it couldn't have been better framed with the man in white in the black door, Surrounded by the huge statues, sky is maybe Unwanted.

didier

Cricri (42687) 2008-11-29 12:18

Hola Ric
Yes tout aussi impressionnant et magnifique, un bon rendu des détail par cette trés belle lumiére
je trouve le WS tout aussi intéressant a voir,
Have a nice evening for you
cricri

Leonie (8627) 2008-11-30 4:31

Hola Ricardo, I love your composition and your title! Great POV on a certainly fabulous place to visit! Have a nice sunday! Léonie

TopGeo (21345) 2008-12-01 7:56

Hi Ricardo! They is indeed impressive the points that you present and very good imprinting. Pictures with good note and reception impressive composition and POV.
compliments
Georgios

Emile (19759) 2008-12-01 8:22

Hola Ricardo.
Excellent shot of the Queen Nefertari temple, your upward POV give us an impressive view, very well captured. The man give a nice sense of scale as you already mentioned in your wonderful note. I like a lot your WS. Good colors and sharpness. Great details.
TFS.
Best regards

coco (27542) 2008-12-02 1:11

Hi Ricardo.

Nice, very nice place and also nice low POV and picture. The light is other of the highs of this photo.

Well done.

bibiweb (8) 2008-12-02 5:34

Ola Ricardo,
Excellent perspective and good composition with the presence of the guard giving the scale of the statues. The early morning light gives an overall pleasant glow to the scene.
Have a nice day.
Bibi

npecanhuk (12947) 2008-12-03 17:09

Olá Ricardo!
Acho que essa foto tem o mesmo espírito da outra em que já comentei: a junção perfeita dos dois elementos, como o próprio título de sua foto diz!
Qualidades técnicas muito boas fizeram dessa sua idéia uma excelente fotografia que me agrada muito! Um convite para conhecer essas paragens!
Parabéns, abraços e até mais!
Neyvan

AiresSantos (41178) 2008-12-04 1:54

Ola Ric
Excelente titulo para esta tambem excelente foto.
Admiraveis estatuas gigantes ! Este angulo permite-nos ver a totalidade do templo na vertical. Gosto do contraste e das cores
Um abraco Amigo
Aires

Angshu (33193) 2008-12-04 19:55

Ola Ric
This 'travellogue' (which is on paper nonexistent though) is fascinating. A fine post here perfect in vertical frame comparing the gigantic size of these statues with the mere mortal...and that the guard is in all white, adds to the scene. The light is nice & soft which is also important. Talking about scale, I think the WS shows it better with that ant-esque guard amidst the giants. A fine couple of shots my friend
Best Regards
Angshu

Henryk_Bilor (20365) 2008-12-08 14:03

Hi Ricardo
Wow, great sculptures. Good that you put a man to compare, contrary I could think it was an entrance to mice ;). I like the ancient history and not only me, as I noticed watching Stargate movie :).
Regards

ChrisJ (69396) 2008-12-09 1:44

Ola Ricardo

Looks like a fantastiuc place to visit. Striking warm cold color contrasts against the blue sky with good sharpness & contrast. Tfs!

stego (22312) 2008-12-10 9:27

Olá Ricardo,
Uma perspectiva impressionante e excelente luz!
O homem, além de dar escala, dá um aquele ar de calma que é mais evidente na anterior.
O WS tb. está esplêndido e vejo que não lhe falta uma pessoínha (sentada! :-).
Um abraço, José.

xuaxo (5619) 2009-01-08 11:13

Olá Ricardo!
Isto é uma foto do mortal. Os gigantes ao lado já eu tenho visto mais vezes. Aqui nesta foto servem para mostrar a pequenez do mortal :-)
F.

Bluejeans (31449) 2009-01-23 10:36

Oi Ricardo ,
Gostei do titulo os deuses e o mortal , são magnificos os detalhes nestas rochas , o homem deu uma noção de escala apesar destas estátuas não serem muito grande como dizes na nota tem 9 m, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

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