Abu Simbel in brief
Abu Simbel is on the western shore of Lake Nasser in southern Egypt, close to the border with Sudan, in the region once called Nubia. Two temples were cut into the sandstone cliff in the 13th century BC, during the reign of Ramesses II (Ramesses the Great), to show Egyptian power to the south and to honour the gods and the king.
The temples
- The Great Temple. Its front, about 33 metres wide and 30 metres high, has four seated statues of Ramesses II, each around 20 metres tall. Inside, a long hall leads to a sanctuary with statues of the gods Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra and Ptah, and a figure of the king. Carved reliefs show the king at the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites, which both sides claimed as a victory.
- The Small Temple. Dedicated to the goddess Hathor and to Ramesses’s chief wife, Nefertari. Statues of the king and queen, each about 10 metres tall, stand on the front, an unusual honour for a queen.
On two days of the year, around 22 February and 22 October, the rising sun shines along the whole length of the Great Temple and lights up three of the statues in the sanctuary, leaving the god of the underworld, Ptah, in darkness. This is the “sun festival”, which is still a popular occasion. Since the move, the event is often said to occur a day later than it did before.
Rediscovery
For centuries sand covered the temples, up to the chest of the statues. In 1813 the Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt saw the top of the temple from the desert. In 1817 the Italian strongman and explorer Giovanni Belzoni cleared an entrance and went in.
Saving the temples
In the 1950s Egypt began to build the Aswan High Dam, which would create a huge lake, Lake Nasser, and flood much of Nubia, with its monuments. In 1959 Egypt and Sudan asked UNESCO for help, and an international campaign began, one of the first of its kind, with dozens of countries contributing.
Between 1964 and 1968 engineers cut the temples out of the cliff in more than 1,000 blocks, each weighing up to 30 tonnes, and reassembled them on a hill about 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the original position. The rock hill was rebuilt as an artificial dome to hold the temples. The cost was about 40 million US dollars. The campaign led later to the idea of the World Heritage list. The Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae were listed in 1979.
Why it matters
Abu Simbel shows the power of a famous pharaoh, and the importance of the Nile in the Egyptian world. It is also known as one of the first major efforts to save heritage from a modern development, and the international campaign as a model.
Visiting
Abu Simbel is about 280 km south of Aswan, and can be reached by road, by air, or on a cruise on Lake Nasser. Many visitors go early in the morning. See also Giza.
Sources
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae.