Ancient Archaeology and World Heritage

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 Nefer

The Great 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 during the reign of the 19th dynasty Pharaoh, Ramesses II (also known as Ramesses the Great) who ruled Egypt for approximately 66 years from 1279 BCE to 1213 BCE . It is estimated that the construction of the great temple took approximately 20 years. The temple is dedicated to the Egyptian gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and as well the pharaoh Ramesses II himself.  The Great Temple at Abu Simbel The complex which consists of the great temple and the smaller temple (dedicated to goddess Hathor and Queen Nefertari, the chief wife of Ramesses II) 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.  Th