Egypt, Ever a Wonder! (Part 7): A-Bunch of Temples at Abu Simbel

- April 4, 2026, Saturday.

- Abu Simbel is one of the final frontiers of southern Egypt as it is close to the country's border with Sudan. Abu Simbel is actually still part of the Aswan governorate, which starts from right below Luxor until the border, but it really is so far from most other major tourist sites. Since my dad and I were staying in Luxor, the only thing most Egyptians told us after telling them of our day trip to Abu Simbel from Luxor was "good luck." It was a 6- to 7-hour drive from Luxor, better if from Aswan (around 3 hours). If I only planned our journey trip, I might actually have considered Aswan as a "homebase" in the south rather than Luxor as it appears to be in the middle of everything. Anyway, the only thing we had to do was to start our day at 4:30AM, and with a good driver (which we thankfully had), we reached Abu Simbel in no time. (There was a stopover too for toilet and snacks, but at some point my dad and I really had to pee, so we both were told to pee in the desert - a first experience for us, I guess.)

- Upon arrival at the Abu Simbel temples and meeting our guide, we took no time and immediately went around them. The original temples were built in 13th century BCE. However, due to the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s, the temples had to be relocated to higher ground (similar case to Philae Temple, which we visited the day prior, as well as many other temples in the region). The relocation had to be done with mathematical precision because factors such as when and how the sunlight would illuminate the temple interior had to be considered. Apart from this, an artificial hill had to be created from the same stones and soil from the original location to recreate the look of the original temples.

- The bigger of the two temples was built by and dedicated to Ramesses II. It has four gigantic statues of him at the gate. His family members can be seen standing by his lower legs. Inside the temple's main hall are four statues: Ptah (god of the dead), Amun-Ra (king of gods), Ramesses II (at par with the gods), and Ra-Horakhty (fusion of Ra and Horus).

Spot the not.

The temple was cut up into hundreds of blocks during relocation.

Closer up of Ramesses II's statues.

Inside, see the Osiride Ramesses II statues.

Ramesses II on a chariot.

Left to right: Ptah, Amun-Ra, Ramesses II, and Ra-Horakhty. 

Another spot where one can take photos as one of the Ramesses II statues.

- The smaller temple at the other side of the mountain was dedicated to Hathor, the cow-headed fertility goddess, and Ramesses II's consoert, Nefertari. Unusually, Nefertari's statues at the temple's gate are the same size as Ramesses II's statues; pharaohs often had the largest statues with everyone else's being smaller (as in the bigger temple). The design of the whole temple was meant to be a simpler version of the bigger temple.

At the smaller temple. Notice how Ramesses II and Nefertari are standing alternately.

Pillars bearing images of Hathor (she looks like a human here, but with cow ears.)

From the sanctuary.

Inside the sanctuary.

Ramesses II giving offerings to Ra-Horakhty.

With a view of both temples.

First time seeing a wild falcon. At least, I was tlod it was a falcon.

-These two temples were the only ones we saw the whole day; we went back to Luxor after lunch. While ideally we'd spend some more time in Abu Simbel, these two temples were the main things to see. Other people opt to fly in and out within the day, but the flights from Abu Simbel only go to/from Cairo and Aswan, not Luxor (and I think they should consider flights to/from Luxor too, if possible.) Well, I used the rest of the time in the car to rest and edit photos; we arrived in Luxor just in time for dinner - around 2 hours ahead of our scheduled arrival! 

- I initially had hesitations about going to Abu Simbel because of its distance from Luxor (or anywhere else, really). However, seeing it personally and knowing about its story of relocation made me realize that I was right in trusting my gut to not let these two temples pass. They are remarkable works of ancient Egypt and I am also happy that they were able to restore them as accurately as possible after relocation!