Abu Simbel temples feather in his right hand, with Ma'at, (the goddess of truth and justice) in his left; this is nothing less than a gigantic cryptogram for Ramesses II's throne name, User-Maat-Re. The facade is topped by a row of 22 baboons, their arms raised in the air, supposedly worshipping the rising sun. Another notable feature of the facade is a stele which records the marriage of Ramesses with a daughter of king Hattusili III, which sealed the peace between Egypt and the Hittites. The inner part of the temple has the same triangular layout that most ancient Egyptian temples follow, with
William MacQuitty massive feat of archaeological engineering the temples were raised above water level. MacQuitty's plan has always been regarded as supremely elegant and probably the best in terms of conservation of the temples. That experience led to his first book, "Abu Simbel", published in 1965 and lavishly illustrated with his own photographs. He went on to produce almost a book a year on a variety of subjects, reflecting his interests in the Orient, all illustrated with his award-winning photographs from a library of a quarter of a million taken by him over 60 years in 75 different countries. "Buddha", published in