Abu Simbel Temples: The Eternal Monuments of Ramses II

Abu Simbel is an archaeological site in Aswan Governorate in southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It lies on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230–290 km southwest of Aswan, and consists of two rock-cut temples built by Ramses II in the 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom, around 1264 BC. The temples were meant to show the pharaoh's power and divine stature.

The Great Temple of Ramses II

The Great Temple is the larger and more famous of the two. Its facade has four colossal seated statues of Ramses II, each about 20 m tall. Inside, the halls and chambers are decorated with reliefs of his victories, including the Battle of Kadesh.

The Small Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

The nearby Small Temple is dedicated to Queen Nefertari, Ramses II's favorite wife, and to the goddess Hathor. Its facade has six statues: four of Ramses and two of Nefertari. Unusually, the queen is shown at the same scale as the pharaoh.

The Rescue: Relocating the Temples

In the 1960s, construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge the temples under the rising waters of what became Lake Nasser. An international team cut the temples into large blocks and reassembled them higher up on an artificial hill, one of the greatest archaeological preservation projects in history. As a result of this project, Abu Simbel and other Nubian monuments were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

The Sun Festival

The Great Temple has a solar alignment that occurs twice a year: on 22 February, Ramses II's coronation day, and on 22 October, his birthday. On these mornings the first rays of the sun reach deep into the temple and light the sanctuary and the seated statues of the gods and Ramses, except the statue of Ptah. The event shows the astronomical and architectural precision of the ancient Egyptians and attracts many visitors.