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Not a soul had stepped there for thousands of years. Everything, even the air inside, was a relic of a bygone era, a beautiful remnant of times past.
Outside sat four giant kings, and inside a walkway of gods lined the entrance, standing side by side, flanking all those that had once entered and guiding them with their gently smiling faces to the end. To the pinnacle, to the sanctuary all were seeking - the four sitting gods, bidding them welcome, their hands on their laps, waiting.565Please respect copyright.PENANAF4w0ctuABP
The walls, now crumbling, held great carved stories. Painstakingly chiseled battle scenes illustrate his grand victory, the king firing arrows from his chariot.565Please respect copyright.PENANATrko2LEFH5
Each detail glorified, magnified, sculpted on the walls of his temple for all to see. And inside he sits beside Amun and Ra, sitting as a god, with the rays of sunlight shining upon him.565Please respect copyright.PENANARperjWXioT
Rameses II had his temple brought forth from the rock and decorated it with tales of the grandeur of the past.
The hieroglyphs at his side and at his feet once all coloured in reds and blues, now waning in the desert sun.The cruel hand of time leaves nothing behind but rock. No trace of colour remains, and all within the temple the gods that serve as columns have been drained of their brightness.
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The circus man was sitting on the ground. He had come to Egypt in hope and she had not yet disappointed him.565Please respect copyright.PENANAfymAjc8zd9
The passing of thousands of years had quite concealed the temple and all that remained visible was the tops of the statues that guarded the entrance.565Please respect copyright.PENANALNFg7FlnVp
The sand inside reached the knees of the statues within, and Belzoni noted with a sigh that more clearing would be required.565Please respect copyright.PENANADuWYJzqpgL
But before setting to work, before calling the workmen back, he stood for a moment in the entryway, where the sand was not so deep.565Please respect copyright.PENANAGQ3qctzUBZ
Not a single soul had touched the air within for thousands of years. Not a single soul had gazed upon these figures or looked at these carvings.565Please respect copyright.PENANAuplpRpWx4u
Whole eras and dynasties had been and gone the world over, and not one person had stepped inside this temple since its decline.565Please respect copyright.PENANAWJkI8QGoDn
The desert had claimed the temple as its own. Her reach being far and wide, the sand was able to seep into every crevice. She had noted the lack of interest in the temple and had decided that it was to be hers, forever lost to the sands of time.
Belzoni shook his head and the stone face of Rameses smiled on as the sand was cleared.565Please respect copyright.PENANAjQ7OTOzmAQ
This was one site that would be reclaimed for humanity, for history and for knowledge.565Please respect copyright.PENANAkTgPFfMFXE
Everything else may already be lost under the sands, but this was one site that the desert could not lay claim to.565Please respect copyright.PENANAtZ1gtXh10K
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