Abu Simbel: Quick Facts

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Photos and Videos

Four colossal seated statues of Ramses II are carved into the sandstone facade of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel near Aswan, Egypt, with the Nile in the background.

Great Temple of Ramses II

Aswān, Egypt: Great Temple of Ramses II

Aswān, Egypt: Abu Simbel

Aswān, Egypt: Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

Interior view of the hypostyle hall in the small temple at Abu Simbel, Egypt, showing columns and walls carved with ancient Egyptian mural reliefs and hieroglyphs.

Entrance to the Nubian cliff temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, Egypt, c. 1250 bce, New Kingdom, 19th dynasty.

Colossal statues of Ramses II

Travel down the Nile to discover important ancient Egyptian cultural sites such as the Pyramids of Giza

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Topics

ancient Egyptian religion Archaeology temple Valley of the Kings Thebes Pyramids of Giza Ṣaqqārah Tell el-Amarna Abydos Dayr al-Baḥrī Naukratis Per Ramessu Bubastis

Flag of Egypt with horizontal red, white, and black stripes and a gold eagle centered on the white stripe.

Egypt

country, Africa

Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt.

ancient Egypt

ancient civilization

Nubian Valley

Nubian Valley

valley, Egypt

Key People

Belzoni, oil painting by W. Brockedon; in the National Portrait Gallery, London

Giovanni Battista Belzoni

Italian archaeologist

Aswān, Egypt: Abu Simbel

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt

Swiss author

Al-Jizah. Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Cairo, Egypt. Side view of Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background. The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids are astronomically oriented to be north-south, east-west (see notes)

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Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)

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Tomb of Mohammed Bin Ali, Salalah, Oman.

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