Abu Simbel temples Abu Simbel temples The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples at Abu Simbel (), a village in Nubia, southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan (about 300 km by road). The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments", which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae (near Aswan). The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve
Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel “Mansion of Millions of Years Hewn in the Rock” as the First King’s Cupbearer Ashahebsed said. Inside the temple, statues of Ramesses II are presented alongside statues of the gods, showing the fact that he is one of them, and indeed, he is even shown as presenting offerings to himself. Both temples are rock-cut temples. The edifices are hewn into huge sandstone mounds that were already at the site. Despite the fact that the temples were carved into the sandstone mounds rather than built, they are similar in design to all Egyptian temples. For example, the façades of the Great