Abu Simbel Temples - Abu Simbel, Egypt
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N 22° 20.208 E 031° 37.531
36Q E 358452 N 2470752
Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan.
Waymark Code: WM17GEZ
Location: Egypt
Date Posted: 02/17/2023
Views: 2
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 as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II. His wife Nefertari and children can be seen in smaller figures by his feet, considered to be of lesser importance and were not given the same position of scale. This commemorates 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 to higher ground to avoid it being submerged by Lake Nasser, the Aswan Dam reservoir. As part of International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, an artificial hill was made from a domed structure to house the Abu Simbel Temples, under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michalowski, from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw.
Today, a few hundred tourists visit the temples daily. Most visitors arrive by road from Aswan, the nearest city. Others arrive by plane at an airfield that was specially constructed for the temple complex.
Our default photo shows 4 colossal statues representing Ramesses II himself on the facade of the Great Temple. The head of the second statue from the left is broken off and laying on the ground in front of the statue. This happened during an earthquake just after the temple was completed. On the facade of the Small Temple one can see 4 statues of Ramesses II and 2 statues of Nefertari (4th and 5th pictures).
Source: Wikipedia (
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