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
Silvio Curto the Abu Simbel temples which were threatened by the building of the Aswan High Dam. Italy received as a gift the small temple of Ellesyia, originally built by Thutmose III for the god Horus, which was rebuilt by Curto in 1970 inside the Museo Egizio in Turin, where it still is.<br> From 1964 to 1989 he taught Egyptology at the University of Turin. He also contributed to various Egyptian collections throughout Italy, such as renovating the one in the Museo Civico Archeologico of Bologna in 1961 and co-founding the Egyptian Museum of Milan in 1972. Curto died on September 24,