General Authority for Culture Palaces to celebrate Ramses II’s Solar Alignment Phenomenon on October 17-21

CAIRO – 17 October 2021: The General Authority for Culture Palaces is holding a festival to celebrate the Solar Alignment Phenomenon of Ramses II in a number of cultural sites in Aswan during the period from October 17 to 21.

This celebration comes within the framework of the directives of the Ministry of Culture headed by Minister Inas Abdel Dayem, and is held under the auspices of Governor of Aswan Ashraf Attia.

During the solar alignment, sun rays enter the temple’s sanctum to light three of four statues. The three statues belong to King Ramses II and the deities Amun-Re and Re-Hur-Akhty, leaving the God of Darkness Ptah in the shadow to symbolize his connection to the underworld.

This phenomenon attracts the world's attention, as the sun rays infirtlate the temple, to reach the temple’s sanctum, which is about sixty meters away from the entrance.