Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel and Small temples are carved to represent pylons – the monumental trapezoidal gates representative of the Egyptian for horizon characteristic of all Egyptian temples. The multiple halls and rooms required for storing temple offerings are also present, carved deep into the sandstone mound. Four colossi depicting Ramesses II as a god flank the entrance to the temple. Ramesses II is depicted as seated, wearing the royal kilt, wearing the nemes headdress and either the crown of Lower Egypt (the Northern two) or the combined crown of Lower and Upper Egypt (the Southern two). Graffiti on the legs of the colossi
Abu Simbel temples erosion of the sandstone by desert winds. However the proposal, though acknowledged to be extremely elegant, was rejected. The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators working together under the UNESCO banner; it cost some US$40 million at the time (equal to $300 million in 2017 dollars). Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location 65 meters higher and 200 meters back from the river, in