"An Impressive and Imposing place" Temple of Abu Simbel by K.Knight

The fascade of the Temple was carved out of solid rock into the cliff face of a mountain. Slaves were used to do the heavy work in the creation of this Temple in the 13th century B.C.

The temple is dedicated to the Pharaoh Ramses II, although a small attempt was made to make it look as though the temple was actually dedicated to the great God Amun of Thebes. (Thebes is now known as Luxor and Karnak Temple, in Luxor, is dedicated to this same God.)

As you can imagine, Ramses II is famed for having built many temples and statues all over Egypt in an attempt to glorify himself. In my opinion, this is the most spectacular of them all.

Anne and I at the Colossi of Ramses II.

The sheer size of the 4 seated statues of Ramses is impressive.

The entrance to the Temple is situated in the middle of the 4 statues, with two on each side. A small statue of Ra- Harakhty is situated above the entry while a plethora of Baboons sit patiently on either side of the façade.

An earthquake in 27 B.C saw the Pharaoh “lose his head” and Anne and I were dwarfed by the remains of his head, not to mention the sheer size of these statues.

The Temple of Hathor.

Ramses II loved himself more than no other; in fact, he built so many icons, temples, statues and relief’s of himself all over Egypt I was sick of looking at him by the time I left Egypt!

One thing he did do, however, was build a magnificent temple for his favorite wife, Nefertari. (Even if it was a fraction of the size of his temple next door!)

Of course, the reliefs and paintings inside are not of Nefertari, they are of Ramses II slaying his enemies while Nefertari watches on…how romantic.

• Pros:As an attraction, this ticks all of the boxes.
• Cons:3 hours of boring desert highway to get there
• In a nutshell:A must see highlight in Egypt.