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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.575Please respect copyright.PENANAHCsngHEP16
The walls, now crumbling, held great carved stories. Painstakingly chiseled battle scenes illustrate his grand victory, the king firing arrows from his chariot.575Please respect copyright.PENANA3QaUHTrFvu
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANA3JZODCQQeC
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANArIhA4tj0ho
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANA8EsHO7IMJq
The sand inside reached the knees of the statues within, and Belzoni noted with a sigh that more clearing would be required.575Please respect copyright.PENANAVuGei1XnN2
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANAgEEcqhDmuD
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANAn73Y64XkBq
Whole eras and dynasties had been and gone the world over, and not one person had stepped inside this temple since its decline.575Please respect copyright.PENANAU9BtzV4cy6
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.575Please respect copyright.PENANALMurfcdVGe
This was one site that would be reclaimed for humanity, for history and for knowledge.575Please respect copyright.PENANAbER8N6xHSv
Everything else may already be lost under the sands, but this was one site that the desert could not lay claim to.575Please respect copyright.PENANAz3vAwXwBx6
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