Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel flanking the central aisle. The sanctuary contains four statues representing the four gods the temple is dedicated to; Ptah, Amun-Re, Ramesses II and Re-Horakhty. Each god is the patron god of a different powerful city of Ancient Egypt: Ptah was worshipped in Memphis, Amun-Re is associated with Thebes, Ramesses II would represent his own capital of Pi Ramesses in the delta and Re-Horakhty was the patron god of Heliopolis. The Great Temple of Abu Simbel was built so that at certain times of the year, the sun shines directly through the temple into the sanctuary. Like most Egyptian temples, it
Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel is roughly on an East-West axis. However, it is slightly off this axis in order to accommodate for this phenomenon. For about twenty minutes every February 22 and October 22, the sun shined through the temple to light up the statues of the gods in the sanctuaries. Some people suggest that these dates correspond to the birth and coronation of Ramesses II. The Small Temple at Abu Simbel was dedicated to the goddess Hathor of Ibshek, the ancient name for an area in present-day Sudan more commonly called Faras (although it is now submerged under Lake Nasser). The Small Temple