---
node: abu_simbel
type: art
slug: abu_simbel
title: "Abu Simbel"
lead: "Abu Simbel is a pair of rock-cut temples in Nubia, southern Egypt, carved for Ramesses II around 1264–1244 BC. Threatened by the Aswan High Dam reservoir, they were moved block by block to higher ground in a famous UNESCO rescue campaign in the 1960s."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: abu_simbel.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abu_Simbel,_fa%C3%A7ade_of_the_Great_Temple_(6201194723).jpg"
image_author: "Arian Zwegers from Brussels, Belgium"
image_license: "CC BY 2.0"
---

## Overview

Abu Simbel consists of two temples cut into the rock in Nubia, in the far south of Egypt, carved for Ramesses II around 1264–1244 BC. The Great Temple celebrates the king himself, while the Small Temple honours his queen Nefertari.

## Description

The facade of the Great Temple is guarded by four seated colossi of Ramesses II about 20 metres high. Its axis is aligned so that in February and October the rising sun reaches the statues in the innermost sanctuary.

## History and legacy

Between 1964 and 1968, when the reservoir of the Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge them, the temples were sawn into blocks and reassembled on higher ground in a celebrated UNESCO rescue campaign. That operation is commonly credited with helping to inspire the World Heritage system itself, and in 1979 the temples were inscribed among the Nubian Monuments.