Abu Simbel is an archaeological site located on the west bank of Lake Nasser, about 290 km southwest of Aswan. It is one of the "Nubian Antiquities" sites included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, which start from the direction of the river’s flow from Abu Simbel to Philae (near Aswan).
The twin temples were originally carved from the mountains during the reign of King Ramses II in the thirteenth century BC, as a permanent monument to him and Queen Nefertari, to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Kadesh. However, in 1960 the facility complex was completely moved to another location, on an artificial hill made of a dome structure, and over the Aswan High Dam reservoir.
It was necessary to move the temples to avoid being submerged during the construction of Lake Nasser, and the huge artificial water reservoir was formed after the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Abu Simbel is still one of the best areas to attract tourism in Egypt
Building :-
During his reign, Ramses II embarked on a large-scale building program throughout Egypt and Nubia, which Egypt took control of. Nubia was important to the Egyptians because it was a source of gold and many other valuable commercial goods. Therefore, Ramses built many great temples there in order to dazzle the Nubians with the power of Egypt and their Egyptianization, the most famous temples are the temples carved into the rock near the modern village of Abu Simbel, at the second waterfall of the Nile, on the border between Lower Nubia and Upper Nubia, there are two temples, the Great Temple, Dedicated to Ramses II himself, and the small temple dedicated to his main wife, Queen Nefertari.
The construction of the temple complex began around 1264 BC and lasted about 20 years until 1244 BC. It was known as the "Temple of Ramses, Beloved by Amun."
Rediscover: -
With the passage of time, the temples deserted and thus became covered in sand. At that time, during the 6th century BC, the statues of the main temple were covered with sand to the knees. The temple was forgotten until 1813, when the Swiss orientalist JL Borchardt found the main temple promenade. Borchardt talked about this discovery with his Italian counterpart, the explorer Giovanni Bellonzi, who together traveled to the site, but were unable to dig an entrance to the temple. Pelonzi returned in 1817, but this time succeeded in his attempt to enter the complex. And he took everything valuable that he could carry with him. Tour guides at the site associate the name with the myth of "Abu Simbel", which is that there was a little local boy who led explorers to the site again at an early age for the buried temple that he saw from time to time in the shifting sand. Ultimately, they named the temple Abu Simbel according to its name.
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