Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel Great and Small Temples of Abu Simbel The Great and Small Temples in Abu Simbel are massive rock-cut temples built by Pharaoh Ramesses II during Dynasty 19 of the New Kingdom. They were originally built in Nubia next to the Second Cataract, but since the construction of the Aswan High Dam, they have been moved to their present location in the Aswan Governorate. They were built both to show Egypt’s influence over rich Nubia and to show Ramesses II as a god. Today they are preserved as a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site's "Nubian monuments". Ramesses II was
Abu Simbel temples as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic. The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River.