The Temple of Hathor and Nefertari at Abu Simbel

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The temple of Hathor and Nefertari, also known as the Small Temple at Abu Simbel, is one of the two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel in Upper Egypt. It was constructed approximately 100 meters northeast of the temple of Ramesses II and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramesses II's chief consort, Nefertari.

The temple of Hathor and Nefertari at Abu Simbel

The rock-cut facade is decorated with two groups of colossi that are separated by the large gateway, representing the king and his queen. On either side of the entrance are two statues of the king, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt (south colossus) and the double crown (north colossus); these are flanked by statues of the queen. This is one of very few instances where the statues of the king and his queen have been depicted in the same size.

A colossal statue at the entrance to the temple, depicting the king Ramesses II  

A colossal statue at the entrance to the temple, depicting the queen Nefertari. The statues of both the king and the queen are depicted in the same size at the entrance to the temple.

The hypostyle hall in the temple is supported by six pillars bearing the face of goddess Hathor (this type of column is known as Hathoric). 


The pillars within the hypostyle hall of the temple bear the face of the goddess Hathor


The bas-reliefs in the pillared hall illustrate king defeating his enemies (in these scenes, it could be seen that the king is accompanied by his wife queen Nefertari), and the queen making offerings to the goddesses Hathor and Mut. The inner chambers of the temple depict various images of the king and the queen making offerings to ancient Egyptian deities. 





Examples of images depicted within the temple walls

The temple along with the great temple of Abu Simbel  was relocated in its entirety in 1968 to higher ground to avoid it being submerged by Lake Nasser, the Aswan Dam reservoir. Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks, dismantled, lifted, and reassembled in a new location 65 meters higher and 200 meters back from the river.






Location: 8JQG+3M8, Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate 1211501, Egypt

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