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
Structure relocation waters of Lake Nasser. In 1959, an international donation campaign began to save the monuments of Nubia: the southernmost relics of this ancient human civilisation. The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964, and cost US $80 million. Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was cut into large blocks, dismantled and reassembled in a new location – 65 m higher and 200 m back from the river, in what many consider one of the greatest feats of archaeological engineering. Today, thousands of tourists visit the temples daily. Guarded convoys of buses and cars depart twice a day