Abu Simbel is one of the most spectacular sights in Egypt. Two huge rock-cut temples stand on the shore of Lake Nasser in the far south of the country, about 280 km from Aswan and close to the border with Sudan. They were built by Ramesses II in the 13th century BC and later saved from the rising waters of the Nile in one of the greatest engineering projects of the 20th century.
The Great Temple of Ramesses II
The facade of the Great Temple is guarded by four seated colossal statues of Ramesses II, each about 20 meters high. Smaller figures of his wife, mother and children stand between the king's legs. Inside, halls lead deep into the mountain, decorated with scenes of the Battle of Kadesh, to a sanctuary with four seated gods: Ra-Horakhty, Amun, Ptah and the deified Ramesses himself.
The Small Temple of Nefertari
The second temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and to Nefertari, Ramesses' favorite wife. Its facade shows six standing statues, and the statues of the queen are the same size as those of the king, which was very unusual in ancient Egypt.
The Sun Festival
The Great Temple was aligned so that on two days a year, around 22 February and 22 October, the first rays of the rising sun travel through the whole temple and light up three of the four statues in the sanctuary. Only Ptah, a god linked to the underworld, stays in the dark. Thousands of visitors come to see this moment.
The Rescue of Abu Simbel
When the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s, the water of Lake Nasser would have flooded the temples. In an international campaign led by UNESCO between 1964 and 1968, engineers cut both temples into more than 1,000 large blocks and rebuilt them about 65 meters higher, inside an artificial hill. The move was so precise that the solar alignment still works today, only about a day later than originally.
How to Visit Abu Simbel
- By road from Aswan: about 3.5 hours each way, usually leaving before sunrise
- By plane: short flights from Aswan to Abu Simbel airport
- By boat: a Lake Nasser cruise lets you stay nearby and see the temples at sunrise or when they are lit up at night
Visit Abu Simbel on our 5-day Lake Nasser cruise on the Queen Tiyi or as part of the 8-day King Ramses II Classic Egypt package. Learn more about Egypt's greatest monuments.
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