Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about ...

( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate,

Upper Egypt Upper Egypt ( ar, صعيد مصر ', shortened to , , locally: ; ) is the southern portion of Egypt and is composed of the lands on both sides of the Nile that extend upriver from Lower Egypt in the north to Nubia in the south. In ancient E ...

, near the border with

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

. It is situated on the western bank of

Lake Nasser Lake Nasser ( ar, بحيرة ناصر ', ) is a vast reservoir in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Before construction, Sudan was against the building of Lake Nasser because it would encr ...

, about southwest of Aswan (about by road). The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the

19th Dynasty The Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XIX), also known as the Ramessid dynasty, is classified as the second Dynasty of the Ancient Egyptian New Kingdom period, lasting from 1292 BC to 1189 BC. The 19th Dynasty and the 20th Dynasty furt ...

reign of the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...

Ramesses II Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded a ...

. They serve as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II. His wife

Nefertari Nefertari, also known as Nefertari Meritmut, was an Egyptian queen and the first of the Great Royal Wives (or principal wives) of Ramesses the Great.Dodson, Aidan and Hilton, Dyan. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. Thames & Hud ...

and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet, considered to be of lesser importance and were not given the same position of scale. This commemorates his victory at the

Battle of Kadesh The Battle of Kadesh or Battle of Qadesh took place between the forces of the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the ...

. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic. The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, from the

Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw The Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw (PCMA UW; pl, Centrum Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej UW im. Kazimierza Michałowskiego) operates as an independent research institute of the University of Warsaw under the ...

, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the

Aswan High Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Lo ...

reservoir. The relocation of the temples – together with other temples which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae including Amada, Wadi es-Sebua, and other Nubian sites – was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of

, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the

River Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest riv ...

. The Abu Simbel complex, and the other relocated temples, are part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

known as the "Nubian Monuments".

History

Construction

During his reign,

embarked on an extensive building program throughout Egypt and

Nubia Nubia () ( Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sud ...

, which Egypt controlled. Nubia was very important to the Egyptians because it was a source of gold and many other precious trade goods. He, therefore, built several grand temples there in order to impress upon the Nubians Egypt's might and Egyptianize the people of Nubia.Verner, Miroslav. Temple of the Word: Sanctuaries, Cults and Mysteries of Ancient Egypt. (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2013).Hawass, Zahi. The Mysteries of Abu Simbel. (Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2000). The most prominent temples are the rock-cut temples near the modern village of

, at the Second Nile Cataract, the border between Lower Nubia and Upper Nubia. There are two temples, the Great Temple, dedicated to Ramesses II himself, and the Small Temple, dedicated to his chief wife Queen

. Construction of the temple complex started in approximately 1264 BC and lasted for about 20 years, until 1244 BC. It was known as the "Temple of Ramesses, beloved by

Amun Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as ( Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → ( Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egypt ...

Rediscovery

With the passage of time, the temples fell into disuse and eventually became covered by sand. By the 6th century BC, the sand already covered the statues of the main temple up to their knees. The temple was forgotten until 1813, when

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

researcher Johann Ludwig Burckhardt found the top frieze of the main temple. Burckhardt talked about his discovery with Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni, who travelled to the site, but was unable to dig out an entry to the temple. Belzoni returned in 1817, this time succeeding in his attempt to enter the complex. A detailed early description of the temples, together with contemporaneous line drawings, can be found in Edward William Lane's ''Description of Egypt'' (1825–1828).

Relocation

In 1959, an international donations campaign to save the

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

s of

began: the southernmost relics of this ancient civilization were under threat from the rising waters of the Nile that were about to result from the construction of the

One scheme to save the temples was based on an idea by William MacQuitty to build a clear freshwater dam around the temples, with the water inside kept at the same height as the Nile. There were to be underwater viewing chambers. In 1962 the idea was made into a proposal by architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry and civil engineer Ove Arup. They considered that raising the temples ignored the effect of erosion of the sandstone by desert winds. However, the proposal, though acknowledged to be extremely elegant, was rejected. The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators working together under the

banner; it cost some US$40 million at the time (equal to $300 million in 2017 dollars). Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the river, in one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history. Some structures were even saved from under the waters of Lake Nasser. Today, a few hundred tourists visit the temples daily. Most visitors arrive by road from Aswan, the nearest city. Others arrive by plane at an airfield that was specially constructed for the temple complex. The complex consists of two temples. The larger one is dedicated to Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and

, Egypt's three state deities of the time, and features four large statues of Ramesses II in the facade. The smaller temple is dedicated to the goddess

Hathor Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...

, personified by

, Ramesses's most beloved of his many wives. The temple is now open to the public.

Great Temple

The Great Temple at Abu Simbel, which took about twenty years to build, was completed around year 24 of the reign of Ramesses the Great (which corresponds to 1265 BC). It was dedicated to the gods

, Ra-Horakhty, and Ptah, as well as to the deified Ramesses himself.Alberto Siliotti, Egypt: temples, people, gods,1994 It is generally considered the grandest and most beautiful of the temples commissioned during the reign of Ramesses II, and one of the most beautiful in Egypt.

Entrance

The single entrance is flanked by four colossal, statues, each representing Ramesses II seated on a throne and wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The statue to the immediate left of the entrance was damaged in an earthquake, causing the head and torso to fall away; these fallen pieces were not restored to the statue during the relocation but placed at the statue's feet in the positions originally found. Next to Ramesses's legs are a number of other, smaller statues, none higher than the knees of the pharaoh, depicting: his chief wife, Nefertari Meritmut; his queen mother Mut-Tuy; his first two sons, Amun-her-khepeshef and Ramesses B; and his first six daughters:

Bintanath Bintanath (or ''Bentanath'') was the firstborn daughter and later Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramesses II. Family Bintanath was likely born during the reign of her grandfather Seti I. Her mother was Isetnofret, one of the ...

, Baketmut,

, Meritamen, Nebettawy and

Isetnofret Isetnofret (or Isis-nofret or Isitnofret) ( Ancient Egyptian: "the beautiful Isis") was one of the Great Royal Wives of Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the mother of his successor, Merneptah. She was one of the most prominent of the royal wiv ...

.
The façade behind the colossi is high and wide. It carries a frieze depicting twenty-two baboons worshipping the rising sun with upraised arms and a stele recording the marriage of Ramesses to a daughter of king Ḫattušili III, which sealed the peace between Egypt and the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...

. Ania Skliar, ''Grosse kulturen der welt-Ägypten'', 2005
The entrance doorway itself is surmounted by bas-relief images of the king worshipping the falcon-headed Ra Horakhty, whose statue stands in a large niche. Ra holds the hieroglyph ''user'' and a feather in his right hand, with

Maat Maat or Maʽat ( Egyptian: mꜣꜥt /ˈmuʀʕat/, Coptic: ⲙⲉⲓ) refers to the ancient Egyptian concepts of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. Ma'at was also the goddess who personified these concepts, and r ...

(the goddess of truth and justice) in his left; this is a cryptogram for Ramesses II's throne name, ''User-Maat-Re''.

Interior

The inner part of the temple has the same triangular layout that most ancient Egyptian temples follow, with rooms decreasing in size from the entrance to the sanctuary. The temple is complex in structure and quite unusual because of its many side chambers. The

hypostyle In architecture, a hypostyle () hall has a roof which is supported by columns. Etymology The term ''hypostyle'' comes from the ancient Greek ὑπόστυλος ''hypóstȳlos'' meaning "under columns" (where ὑπό ''hypó'' means below or un ...

hall (sometimes also called a pronaos) is long and wide and is supported by eight huge Osirid pillars depicting the deified Ramesses linked to the god

Osiris Osiris (, from Egyptian ''wsjr'', cop, ⲟⲩⲥⲓⲣⲉ , ; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎𐤓, romanized: ʾsr) is the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life, and vegetation in ancient Egyptian religion. He wa ...

, the god of fertility, agriculture, the afterlife, the dead, resurrection, life and vegetation, to indicate the everlasting nature of the pharaoh. The colossal statues along the left-hand wall bear the white crown of

, while those on the opposite side are wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt (pschent). The bas-reliefs on the walls of the pronaos depict battle scenes in the military campaigns that Ramesses waged. Much of the sculpture is given to the

, on the Orontes river in present-day

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

, in which the Egyptian king fought against the

. The most famous relief shows the king on his chariot shooting arrows against his fleeing enemies, who are being taken prisoner. Other scenes show Egyptian victories in

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...

and Nubia. From the hypostyle hall, one enters the second pillared hall, which has four pillars decorated with beautiful scenes of offerings to the gods. There are depictions of Ramesses and Nefertari with the sacred boats of Amun and Ra-Horakhty. This hall gives access to a transverse vestibule, in the middle of which is the entrance to the sanctuary. Here, on a black wall, are rock cut sculptures of four seated figures: Ra-Horakhty, the deified king Ramesses, and the gods

Amun Ra Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...

and Ptah. Ra-Horakhty,

and Ptah were the main divinities in that period and their cult centers were at Heliopolis, Thebes and Memphis respectively.

Solar alignment

It is believed that the axis of the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall, except for the statue of Ptah, a god connected with the

realm of the dead The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld ...

, who always remained in the dark. People gather at Abu Simbel on these days to witness this. These dates are allegedly the king's birthday and coronation day, respectively. There is no direct evidence to support this. It is logical to assume, however, that these dates had some relation to a significant event. In fact, according to calculations made on the basis of the

heliacal rising The heliacal rising ( ) or star rise of a star occurs annually, or the similar phenomenon of a planet, when it first becomes visible above the eastern horizon at dawn just before sunrise (thus becoming "the morning star") after a complete orbit o ...

of the star

Sirius Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. Its name is derived from the Greek word , or , meaning 'glowing' or 'scorching'. The star is designated α Canis Majoris, Latinized to Alpha Canis Majoris, and abbreviated Alpha CM ...

(Sothis) and inscriptions found by archaeologists, this date must have been October 22. This image of the king was enhanced and revitalized by the energy of the solar star, and the deified Ramesses the Great could take his place next to Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty. Because of the accumulated drift of the

Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, which is also referred to as the Northern Tropic, is the most northerly circle of latitude on Earth at which the Sun can be directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towa ...

due to

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

's axial precession over the past 3 millennia, the event's date must have been different when the temple was built. This is compounded by the fact that the temple was relocated from its original setting, so the current alignment may not be as precise as the original one.

Greek graffito

A graffito inscribed in Greek on the left leg of the colossal seated statue of

, on the south side of the entrance to the temple records that: Kerkis was located near the Fifth Cataract of the Nile "which stood well within the Cushite Kingdom."Britannica, p.756

Historic photographs

File:Abu Simbel ( 175 miles south of Aswan, left bank).jpg, alt=Geneva architect, Jean Jacquet, a Unesco expert, makes an architectural survey of the Great Temple of Rameses II (1290–1223 B.C.)., Genevese architect Jean Jacquet, a UNESCO expert, makes an architectural survey of the Great Temple of Rameses II (1290–1223 BC) File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9503.jpg, View of the partially excavated Great Temple from the right, with a human figure for scale File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9930.jpg, Front view of the Great Temple before 1923 File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9505.jpg, Interior of the Great Temple, before cleaning File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9499.jpg, Interior of the Great Temple, after cleaning File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9500.jpg, Human figures standing at the entrance to the Great Temple, sometime before 1923 File:Collapsed Colossus.jpg, The collapsed colossus of the Great Temple supposedly fell during an earthquake shortly after its construction. On moving the temple, it was decided to leave it as the face is missing. File:RamsesIIEgypt.jpg, A close-up of one of the colossal statues of Ramesses II wearing the double crown of

Lower and Upper Egypt In Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the unification of the realm. The conception of Egypt as the Two Lands was an example of the dua ...

Small Temple

The

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

and

, also known as the Small Temple, was built about northeast of the temple of Ramesses II and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramesses II's chief consort, Nefertari. This was in fact the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a temple was dedicated to a queen. The first time, Akhenaten dedicated a temple to his great royal wife, Nefertiti. The rock-cut facade is decorated with two groups of colossi that are separated by the large gateway. The statues, slightly more than high, are of the king and his queen. On either side of the portal are two statues of the king, wearing the white crown of

(south colossus) and the double crown (north colossus); these are flanked by statues of the queen. Remarkably, this is one of very few instances in Egyptian art where the statues of the king and his consort have equal size. Traditionally, the statues of the queens stood next to those of the pharaoh, but were never taller than his knees. Ramesses went to Abu Simbel with his wife in the 24th year of his reign. As the Great Temple of the king, there are small statues of princes and princesses next to their parents. In this case they are positioned symmetrically: on the south side (at left as one faces the gateway) are, from left to right, princes

Meryatum Meryatum (“Beloved of Atum”) was an ancient Egyptian prince and High Priest of Re, the son of Pharaoh Ramesses II and Queen Nefertari. He is shown as 16th on the processions of princes, and is likely to have been the last child born to R ...

and Meryre, princesses Meritamen and Henuttawy, and princes Pareherwenemef and Amun-her-khepeshef, while on the north side the same figures are in reverse order. The plan of the Small Temple is a simplified version of that of the Great Temple. NefertariOfferingToHathor crop

As in the larger temple dedicated to the king, the

hall in the smaller temple is supported by six pillars; in this case, however, they are not Osiris pillars depicting the king, but are decorated with scenes with the queen playing the

sistrum A sistrum (plural: sistra or Latin sistra; from the Greek ''seistron'' of the same meaning; literally "that which is being shaken", from ''seiein'', "to shake") is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient ...

(an instrument sacred to the goddess Hathor), together with the gods

Horus Horus or Heru, Hor, Har in Ancient Egyptian, is one of the most significant ancient Egyptian deities who served many functions, most notably as god of kingship and the sky. He was worshipped from at least the late prehistoric Egypt until the ...

, Khnum, Khonsu, and

Thoth Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...

, and the

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes ...

es Hathor,

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

, Mut of Asher, Satis and Taweret; in one scene Ramesses is presenting flowers or burning

incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

. The capitals of the pillars bear the face of the goddess Hathor; this type of column is known as Hathoric. The bas-reliefs in the pillared hall illustrate the deification of the king, the destruction of his enemies in the north and south (in these scenes the king is accompanied by his wife), and the queen making offerings to the goddesses Hathor and Mut. The hypostyle hall is followed by a vestibule, access to which is given by three large doors. On the south and the north walls of this chamber there are two graceful and poetic bas-reliefs of the king and his consort presenting

papyrus Papyrus ( ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, '' Cyperus papyrus'', a wetland sedge. ''Papyrus'' (plural: ''papyri'') can also refer to ...

plants to Hathor, who is depicted as a cow on a boat sailing in a thicket of papyri. On the west wall, Ramesses II and Nefertari are depicted making offerings to the god Horus and the divinities of the Cataracts— Satis, Anubis and Khnum. The rock-cut

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

and the two side chambers are connected to the transverse vestibule and are aligned with the axis of the temple. The bas-reliefs on the side walls of the small sanctuary represent scenes of offerings to various gods made either by the pharaoh or the

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. On the back wall, which lies to the west along the axis of the temple, there is a niche in which Hathor, as a divine cow, seems to be coming out of the mountain: the goddess is depicted as the Mistress of the temple dedicated to her and to queen Nefertari, who is intimately linked to the goddess.

Historic photographs

File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9496.jpg, The Small Temple from below and left, before 1923

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About one ...

(BWh).

Gallery

File:Maxime Du Camp (French - Westernmost Colossus, the Great Temple, Abu Simbel - Google Art Project.jpg, Westernmost Colossus, 1850 by Maxime Du Camp File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - (Ibsamboul. Spéos de Phré) - Google Art Project.jpg, Earliest photo, 1854 by John Beasley Greene File:Abu Simbel Temple May 30 2007.jpg, Facade of the Temple of Ramesses II, photo taken in 2007 File:S F-E-CAMERON EGYPT 2006 FEB 00671.JPG, Close-up of the leftmost statue at the temple of Rameses II File:SFEC EGYPT ABUSIMBEL 2006-001.JPG, Central, inset statue of Ra-Horakhty at the Great Temple File:Abu Simbel - baboons detail.jpg, Baboon carvings above the heads of the statues of Ramses at the Great Temple File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9498.jpg, View of the Great Temple from the west, photo credited to

William Henry Goodyear William Henry Goodyear (1846–1923) was a noted architectural historian, art historian, and museum curator. He was the son of Charles Goodyear (1800–1860), inventor of rubber vulcanization, and Clarissa Beecher Goodyear. Goodyear was ...

(before 1923) File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9494.jpg, Facade of the Great Temple from before 1923 File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9488.jpg, View of the rightmost statue at the Great Temple, partially excavated, with a human figure (possibly

) for scale File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9489.jpg, View of the Great Temple's colossal statues from the right, partially excavated File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9492.jpg, Interior of the Great Temple, before cleaning File:S10 08 Abu Simbel, image 9491.jpg, Colour photo of the Great Temple from the right, partially excavated, from before 1923 File:S10 08 Abu Simbel, image 9487.jpg, The Great Temple from the right, from before 1923 File:Templo de Ramsés II, Abu Simbel, Egipto, 2022-04-02, DD 26-28 HDR.jpg, Abu Simbel temple, four statues of divinities inside the inner sanctuary File:2N9A6519-Pano.jpg, Frieze inside the Great Temple of Abu Simbel File:Egypt Abu Simbel temples - Onder Kokturk.jpg, Facade of the Temple 2006 File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - (Ibsamboul. Spéos d'Hathor, partie gauche de la façade) - Google Art Project.jpg, Earliest photo of Smaller Temple, 1854 by John Beasley Greene File:SethAndHorusAdoringRamsses crop.jpg, The gods

Set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

(left) and

(right) blessing Ramesses in the small temple at Abu Simbel File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - (Ibsamboul, Stèle à Droite du Temple d'Hathor) - Google Art Project.jpg, Stele adjacent to smaller temple, 1854 by John Beasley Greene File:MyAbu Simbel.jpg, The Small Temple in its relocated context, 1999 File:Nefertari Temple Abu Simbel May 30 2007.jpg, Closer view of the Small Temple, 2007 File:RamessesOfferingToPtah crop.jpg, Ramesses offering to seated god Ptah. Frieze inside the Small Temple. File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9506.jpg, Inscription at the entrance to the Great Temple. Hooper Brooklyn Museum Archives File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9504.jpg, The Small Temple in context, before relocation. Goodyear Brooklyn Museum Archives File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9502.jpg, Statues in the sanctuary of the Great Temple File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9495.jpg, Interior of Nefertari's (queen's) temple at Abu Simbel, with graffiti File:S10.08 Abu Simbel, image 9493.jpg, View of the Nile from Abu Simbel, before 1923. Brooklyn Museum Archives File:Exterior View of the Temple of Ybsambul illustration from the kings tombs in Thebes by Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823) from Plates illustrative of the researches and operations in Egypt and Nubia (1820).jpg, The temple and its surroundings in 1820

References

External links

*
Abu Simbel
at the website of ''Egypt State Information Service'' {{Authority control 13th-century BC establishments in Egypt 1813 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Egypt Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century BC Colossal statues in Egypt Egyptian temples Lake Nasser Monuments and memorials in Egypt Nefertari Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Open-air museums in Egypt Ramesses II Relocated ancient Egyptian monuments Rock reliefs in Egypt Stone buildings Tourist attractions in Egypt World Heritage Sites in Egypt International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia

History

Construction

Rediscovery

Relocation

Great Temple

Entrance

Interior

Solar alignment

Greek graffito

Historic photographs

Small Temple

Historic photographs

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading

External links