Abu Simbel Egypt
Frequently Asked Questions
Lake Nasser cruise boats moor right beside the site: both temples are a few minutes' walk away. It is one of the rare places in Egypt where you step ashore at the foot of the monuments.
Because most visitors come from Aswan by plane or road for a quick visit in the middle of the crowds. Lake Nasser cruise passengers reach the temples in the quiet hours, once the coaches have left.
No. In the 1960s the Aswan High Dam condemned them to be submerged. A UNESCO campaign cut them into hundreds of numbered blocks, lifted them and reassembled them on a hollow artificial cliff about 65 metres higher. The work finished in 1968, and the illusion is so complete that you notice almost nothing on site.
The four seated colossi on the great temple's facade, carved in the likeness of Ramesses II, stand about twenty metres tall. They have faced the lake for more than three thousand years.
The hypostyle hall lines up eight pillars backed by statues of the pharaoh as Osiris. The walls recount the Battle of Kadesh in lavish detail — chariots, archers, encampments — reading like a comic strip in stone. The sanctuary lies some sixty metres from the entrance.
Twice a year, around 22 February and 22 October, the rising sun crosses the entire building to light the four seated deities of the sanctuary — all except Ptah, a god tied to the underworld, who stays in shadow. An architectural precision thirty-two centuries old.
The second temple, about a hundred metres from the first, dedicated to the great royal wife identified with the goddess Hathor. Its facade holds six standing statues where the queen appears at the same height as the pharaoh, an exceptional honour in Egyptian art. The interior, more intimate, preserves reliefs of great delicacy.
Morning. The facade faces east, so an early visit gives the best light. A sound and light show also animates the site on some evenings, when boats stay overnight at anchor.
Shade is scarce and the Nubian heat is felt from morning on. A hat and water are essential. Desert surrounds the site on every side, and the silence outside coach hours is part of the experience.
In southern Egypt, at the gateway to Nubia, on the shore of Lake Nasser. This is where Ramesses II chose to assert his glory, facing south at the frontier of his empire.
