5.0 on Tripadvisor Licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesMinistry licensed guides On the river since 2011 Luxor and Aswan, every week
Ramesses II cut two temples into the rock at Abu Simbel, one for himself and the gods, and one for Queen Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. In the 1960s both were cut into blocks and moved up the cliff, away from the waters of Lake Nasser.
Four things not to miss in the two temples.
Four seated statues of Ramesses II, each about 21 metres high, cut from the cliff. One fell in an ancient earthquake, and its pieces still lie on the ground.
Ramesses in his chariot, drawing his bow. The walls show his wars, including the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites.
The king spears one enemy and tramples another, the image of royal power every visitor walked past.
Dedicated to Hathor and Queen Nefertari. Her statues on the front are the same size as the king’s, which is very rare in Egypt.
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The sun in the sanctuary. On 22 February and 22 October the sun’s rays enter the Great Temple, cross the main hall and light the statues in the sanctuary: Amun-Ra, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Ramesses II himself, as a god. Read more about the Abu Simbel sun festival.
More than a thousand blocks. To save the temples from Lake Nasser, they were cut into more than a thousand blocks of about 30 tonnes each and rebuilt 64 metres higher and 180 metres back from the old site. They reopened on 22 September 1968.
Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty had the Great Temple cut into the living rock around 1264 BC. To the north he added a smaller rock-cut temple for the goddess Hathor and his Great Royal Wife, Nefertari. The temples were brought to the attention of the West by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1813. When the Aswan High Dam threatened to flood them, an international campaign led by UNESCO moved both temples to higher ground. Since 1979 they have been part of the World Heritage site Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae.
Abu Simbel is an extra on our cruises, guided by a licensed Egyptologist. Some of our offers include it as a bonus.
Not as a standard site. It is an extra, by road or by plane, and some of our offers include it as a bonus. Tell us and we will arrange it with your Egyptologist.
About 280 kilometres south of Aswan. By road it means a very early start; by plane it is a short flight.
On 22 February and 22 October, when the sun’s rays cross the main hall and light the statues at the back of the temple.
Tell us your dates and we will send back two or three ships that fit, with real prices.
See also Philae Temple, saved by the same UNESCO campaign.
