The name Abu Simbel comes from the name of a local boy who had seen the temples and led Burckhardt to the site.
At the time it was built, this great temple was known as The Temple of Ramses-Meryamun, meaning beloved of Amun.
Ramses II carved two temples into the rock at Abu Simbel in 1224 BC and took 20 years to build. The two temples have colossal statues of Ramses, which look out over the Nile. This temple was clearly visible from the river and must have struck fear into any who might contemplate conquest of the lands of this great and powerful king. His reach appearing to extend to the very edge of Egypt’s borders and there could be no mistaking his power after viewing these incredibly enormous and striking temples. No one other than a rich and powerful king could have constructed such monuments.
So in effect these temples achieved more than being simply temples to the gods but were also very effective at sending a very clear message to all who passed by, Egypt was a strong and powerful country and would crush any enemy who dared attempt invasion.
These temples, as with others in Egypt commemorate victories in battle and Ramses II temple at Abu Simbel is no exception. Here are depictions of the Battle of Kadesh showing figures of his bound and captive enemies. There are also depictions of Ramses conquering the Libyans and the Nubians
The smaller temple was to honour his favourite wife, his beloved queen, Nefertari and the goddess Hathor
Built on the west bank of the River Nile, south of Aswan in Nubia. This site was considered sacred long before Ramses started the construction of his two temples here.
Originally the site had been sacred to Hathor. Ramses temple however was dedicated to the sun gods Amon-Re and Re-Horakhte. Due to the location of these temples, near to the Sudanese border, they lay forgotten until they were rediscovered in 1813 and remained unexplored until 1817, when Giovanni Battista Belzoni arrived with William John Bankes and managed to clear the entrance to the tomb. Every item he discovered which he considered valuable, he took with him.
The first and largest temple is Ramses temple and seated in front of the temple are four enormous statues of Ramses.
These two temples were both cut directly into the cliff. The façade of the temple is 115 feet wide and 98 feet high and each statue is 65 feet high. Until you are in front of this temple it is hard to envisage its sheer enormity.
All four of these colossal statues is a depiction of Ramses II, seated on his throne. He is wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Below knee height are statues of some of his wives and children. There are also other statues depicting gods.
At the very top of the front façade there are a row of baboons. The baboons are an aspect of the sun god Re and also of the moon god Khonsu. Here they are shown with their hands raised worshipping the rising sun.
Baboons played a large role in ancient Egypt. There are many depictions of them and many gods would take the form of a baboon. In addition monkey demons appear in the netherworld texts as companions of the sun god. Baboons can also be extremely dangerous and the hieroglyph for extreme anger is the image of a baboon with a raised tail.
Inside the temple, carved deep within the rock there are rooms which decrease in size and show many scenes, including Ramses II and his beloved Queen Nefertari paying homage to the gods.
As you first enter you will find an area consisting of eight pillars. One of these is Ramses II depicted as the god Osiris. On the walls there are images of the victory in the Battle of Kadesh.
You will then enter into the next area of the temple which contains four pillars decorated with images of Ramses with various gods. Beyond this second section is the inner sanctuary, where stautes of Ra, Amun, Ptah and Ramses II are seated.
This area is probably one of the greatest achievements in construction. The temple was built taking the position of the sun into account, so that on both the 22 February and 22 October the sunlight penetrates 55 meters (180 feet) into this inner sanctuary and illuminates three of these four statues.
Only the statue of Ptah, god of the underworld, remains in darkness all year round. This is presumably symbolic of the gods’ purpose. It is not known for certain but it is believed that these two dates represent Ramses II’s birthday and coronation.