Abu Simbel

Through time

The story

Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is located on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km (140 mi) southwest of Aswan (about 300 km (190 mi) by road). Its latitude of 22° 20′ 13″ N (22.3369 °N) is 1.0978°, which are 122 km (75.8 ml), south of the tropic of Cancer.

The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. Their huge external rock relief figures of Ramesses II have become iconic. His wife, Nefertari, and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet. Sculptures inside the Great Temple commemorate Ramesses II's heroic leadership at the Battle of Kadesh.

The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 to higher ground to avoid it being submerged by Lake Nasser, the Aswan Dam reservoir. As part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, an artificial hill was made from a domed structure to house the Abu Simbel Temples, under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw.

The Abu Simbel complex, and other relocated temples from Nubian sites such as Philae, Amada, Wadi es-Sebua, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Nubian Monuments.

Adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

What you will see

1. Great Temple of Ramesses II
2. Temple of Hathor and Nefertari
3. Colossal façades

Before you go

• Check opening hours and ticket rules shortly before your visit — they change seasonally.
• Plan for the heat. Most ancient sites have little shade; go early or late.
• Respect the barriers. Fragile surfaces are protected for the next visitors.