Egyptian Shadows

As my last post was of Egyptian skies, I thought to continue with more of this country's beauty for Shadow Shot Sunday.

There is a wonderful luminosity to the light in Egypt as it reflects off handhewn columns and ripples over sand underfoot. Everthing the sun touches here turns golden, contrasting sharply with the dim inner spaces that sunlight doesn't reach.

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Ancient temples are this photographers's dream, affording perfect studies in sun and shadow...

light against dark.

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The Temple of Horus at Edfu

I became fascinated by patterns formed as sunlight struck the ornate pillars and swept across deeply etched hieroglyphic images.
Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

Moving along pillared halls was like walking with giants. I marvelled at the height and breadth of the columns, each one precisely carved by the master craftsmen who built these temples many centuries ago.
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Karnak Temple, Luxor

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Kom Ombo Temple, Aswan

As if the decorated columns were not sufficiently beautiful, they are topped by magnificent capitols,carved into breathtaking swirls and flourishes.
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These temples were once painted in brilliant royal hues of blue and red. Occasionally, one lifts one's eyes to spot a majestic falcon on an archway overhead, wings spread wide to protect his pharaoh, feathers still bearing traces of the blazing turquoise and gold that once made it soar.

How astounding it is to stand in these decorated halls built for the glorification of kings and gods!

Hypostyle Hall,

Temple of Luxor,

Luxor

Medinet Habu,

Mortuary Temple of Ramses III,

Luxor

Time and pollution have faded the brilliant colurs and worn gouges into the sandstone, but nothing will ever completerly diminish the magic or the magnificence of Ancient Egypt's treasures...

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Many thanks to 'Hey, Harriet' for hosting this Sunday event! To see more, do drop by her page at...
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http://heyharriet.blogspot.com/
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