…those fallen capitals for seats, those broken shafts for tethering, this enigmatic but familiar suggestion of a mansion in the desert spaces, may be all the ruin-pleasure the oblivious herdsman gets; unless some travelling enthusiast chances by…
-The Pleasure of Ruins, Rose Macaulay
We passed the temple of Soleb from a distance and at a fast pace, lucky to get the camels and its columns in the same shot. We didn’t get near enough to see its fallen capitals and shafts, nor to see goats sheltering in its shade, nor to see the graffiti that Western enthusiasts visiting Upper Nubia- Frédéric Cailliaud, John Lewis Burckhardt, Karl Richard Lepsius, Francis Frith- left in the 19th Century CE after the days of its 14th Century BCE builder Amenhotep the Great, father of King Tut. And as with all photography, the full pleasure was delayed until after the visit when the images were finally printed.
