Abu Simbel is a set of two temples cut out of the sandstone
cliffs above the Nile River in an area near the border of Egypt with Sudan. It
was constructed for the pharaoh Ramesses II who reigned for 67 years during the
13th century BC (19th Dynasty).
The temples were cut from the rock and shifted to higher ground in the 1960s as
the waters of Lake Nasser began to rise following completion of the Aswan High
Dam. They were once brightly coloured and some colour can still be seen today.
Today visitors see the reconstructed temples now relocated on higher ground (90
meters directly above their earlier position) after an international rescue
effort saved these treasures from Lake Nasser by constructing a false mountain
and moving the temple to that.
The Great Temple is dedicated to Ramesses II and a statue of him is seated with
three other gods within the sanctuary (the innermost part of the rock-cut
temple) as well as to the most important gods of the New Kingdom, Ptah (the
creator god of Memphis), Amun-Re (the great god of Thebes) and Re-Harakhte (sun
god of Heliopolis).
The four colossi or statues of Ramses II are more than 20 metres high and about 4 meters from ear to ear. This temple faces the east, and Re-Horakhty, the sun god, is shown inside the niche directly above the entrance. The alignment of the temple means that twice a year the sun's rays reach into the innermost sanctuary to illuminate the seated statues of Amun-Re, Ramesses II, and Re- Horakhty but not Ptah who is the god of darkness.
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The Banks of the Nile ~ The Valley of the Kings ~ Messing about on the river ~ Aswan ~ Pyramids ~ Lord Kitchener's Island ~ Luxor from the air ~ The Nubian Museum ~ Luxor and Karnak ~ Abu Simbel ~ Kom Ombo ~ Edfu and Philae ~ The Desert Landscape ~ The Nile Adventure ~ Homes ~ Esna and Edfu Town ~ Miscellaneous Pictures ~ Home