During his reign, Ramses II embarked on an extensive building program throughout Egypt and Nubia, which Egypt controlled. Nubia was important to the Egyptians because it was a source of gold and many other valuable trade goods. Therefore, Ramses built many great temples there in order to amaze the Nubians with the power and Egyptianization of Egypt. The most famous temples are the rock-cut temples near the modern village of Abu Simbel, at the Second Nile Waterfall, on the border between Lower Nubia and Upper Nubia. There are two temples, the Great Temple, dedicated to Ramses II himself, and the Small Temple dedicated to his principal wife, Queen Nefertari. The construction of the temple complex began around 1264 BC and lasted about 20 years until 1244 BC. It was known as the "Temple of Ramses, beloved by Amun."
With the passage of time, the temples were abandoned and thus covered with sand. Then, during the 6th century BC, the statues of the main temple were covered with sand up to the knees. The temple was forgotten until 1813, when the Swiss orientalist J.L. Burkhardt found the main temple corniche. Burkhardt spoke about the discovery with his Italian counterpart, explorer Giovanni Belonzi, who traveled together to the site, but were unable to dig an entrance to the temple. Pelonzi returned in 1817, but this time succeeded in his attempt to enter the compound. And he took everything valuable that he could carry with him. Tour guides at the site associate the name with the legend of "Abu Simbel", which is that there was a young local boy who led the explorers to the site again at an early date of the buried temple, which he saw from time to time in the quicksand. Eventually, they named the temple after Abu Simbel.
An international fundraising campaign to save the monument from sinking began in 1959: the ancient southern ruins of this human civilization were under threat from the rising waters of the Nile, which were about to result from the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The rescue of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964, and this operation cost 40 million dollars. Between 1964-1968, the whole site was cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons and an average of 20 tons), dismantled and reinstalled in a new site 65m and 200m above river level, considered to many as one of the greatest works of archaeological engineering. . Some structures were rescued from under the waters of Lake Nasser. Today, thousands of tourists visit the temples do every day. Convoys of buses and escorted cars leave twice a day from Aswan, the nearest city. Many visitors arrive by plane at the airport, which was built specifically for the temple complex. Society consists of two temples. The largest is dedicated to the three deities of Egypt at that time, namely Ra-Harakhty, Ptah, and Amun, and four large statues of Ramses II stand out in the facade. The smaller temple is dedicated to the god Hathor, personified by Nefertari, Ramses' most beloved wife.
The construction of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel took nearly twenty years, and was completed in about 24 years of the reign of Ramses the Great (which corresponds to 1265 BC). It was dedicated to the gods Amun, Ra-Harakhty, Ptah, as well as to Ramses. It is generally considered the finest and most beautiful temples that were commissioned during the reign of Ramses II, and one of the most beautiful in Egypt. Four colossal statues of the pharaoh, up to 20 meters in length, with the double Atef crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, decorate the facade of the temple, which is 35 meters wide, and is crowned with a cornice with 22 baboons, and the entrance is surrounded by sun worshipers. The colossal statues were carved directly from the rocks in which the temple was located before it was moved. All the statues represent Ramses II sitting on the throne and wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. The statue to the left of the entrance was damaged in an earthquake, and only the lower part of the statue remains intact. The head and torso can be seen under the feet of the statue. Next to the legs of the colossus, there are other statues of the pharaoh no higher than the knees. This depicts Nefertari, the main wife of Ramses, and the queen mother, Mutai, with whom he has two sons, Amun, Har Khabshef, and Ramses, and he has six daughters, Pentanath, Pactmut, Nefertari, Meritamen, Neptawe, and Astnefert. The entrance itself is crowned with a relief of small relief, representing two images of the king worshiping the falcon-headed Ra Harakhty, whose statue stands in a large niche. This god holds in his right hand a hieroglyphic necklace, the pharaonic Egyptian art of writing used and the quill, while in his left hand he holds Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. At the top of the facade of the building is crowned by a row of 22 baboons with their arms raised in the air, presumably worshiping the rising sun. Another notable feature of the building's facade is a plaque recording the marriage of Ramesses to the daughter of King Hatsili III, which led to the peace between Egypt and the Hittites. The interior of the temple has the same triangular design as most ancient Egyptian temples, with rooms reduced in size from the temple entrance. The temple is a very complex and unusual structure due to its many side chambers. The hypostyle hall (sometimes called pronaos) is 18 meters long and 16.7 meters wide and is supported by eight huge Osiris columns depicting the defiant Ramesses associated with the god Osiris, the god of hell, and refers to the eternal nature of the pharaoh. Colossal statues along the wall on the left, bear the white crown of Upper Egypt, while those on the opposite side wear the double crown of Upper Egypt (pschent). On the lower part of the walls of Pronaos, there are pictures of scenes from the battles waged by the ruler in military campaigns. The statue is of the battle of Kadesh on the Orontes River, which is called at this day Syria, in which the king of Egypt fought against the king of Hittites. The most famous inscription shows the king on an arrow chariot firing arrows against fleeing enemies who are taken captive. And other scenes show Egyptian victories in Libya and Nubia. From the hypostyle hall we enter into the second hall the pillars which have four corners decorated with beautiful scenes of offerings to the gods. There are images of Ramses and Nefertari with the sacred boats of Amun and Ra-Harakhty. This hall gives access to a transverse hall in the middle and from it is the entrance to the temple. And here on a black wall, there are pieces of rock carvings of four seated statues: Ra-Harakhty, Ramses the deified king, and the gods Amun-Ra and Ptah-Ra-Harkharti, Amun-Ra, and Ptah were the main deities of that period, and the cult centers in Heliopolis, Thebes, and Memphis respectively. . And the axis of the temple was put in place by the ancient Egyptian engineer in a special way so that it is repeated twice a year on October 22 and February 21, that the sun's rays penetrate the temple and shed light on the statue and appear on the back wall, with the exception of the statue of Ptah, the god was associated with hell, which always remained in the dark. It is said that these dates are the occasion of the king's birthday and respectively the day of his coronation, but there is no evidence to support this, although it is quite logical to suppose that some of these dates are related to a major event, such as the jubilee celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the rule of the pharaoh. In fact, according to calculations made based on the solar altitude of Sirius (Sothis) and the inscriptions found by archaeologists, the date should have been October 22. This image of the king has been enhanced and activated by the solar energy of the star, and the great deity Ramses can take his place next to Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty. Because of the temple's relocation, it is widely believed that this event is now occurring one day later than it originally was. small temple The Temple of Hathor and Nefertari, also known as the Small Temple, was built about a hundred meters to the north-east of the Temple of Ramses II and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor Hathor, Ramses II, and his wife Nefertari. In fact, this is the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a temple is dedicated to a queen. The first time was when Akhenaten dedicated a temple to his wife, the great Queen Nefertiti. The rock pieces in the facade are decorated with two groups of giants, and they are separated by the large gate. The statues are a little more than ten meters high, of the king and queen. On the other side of the gate are two statues of the king, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt (colossal for the south) and the double crown (colossal for the north); These statues are surrounded by statues of the queen and the king. What is really surprising is that for the first time in Egyptian art, the statues of the king and queen are equal in size. Traditionally, statues of queens stood next to the pharaoh, but were not taller than his knees. This exception to a rule long ago testifies to the special importance given to Nefertari by Ramses who went to Abu Simbel with his beloved wife in the 24th year of his reign. Also, in the Great Temple of the King, there are small statues of princes and princesses beside their parents. In this case they are in a balanced position: on the south side (left when facing the gate), from left to right, the princes Meri-Atum and Mer, the princesses Mer-Amon and Hentawi, the princes Rahironmph, and Amun-Herkhabshef, while they are on the north side But in reverse order. The design of the Small Temple is a simplified version of the Great Temple. As the great temple dedicated to the king, the hypostyle bubble or pronaos is carried on six columns; In this case, it is not the pillars of Osirid that show the king, but rather are decorated with scenes of the queen playing Sinsterm (a sacred instrument of the goddess Hathor), along with the gods Horus, Khnum, Khonsu, and Thoth, and the goddesses Hathor, Isis, Maat, Mut from Asher, Satis, Tauart; In one scene of Ramses offering flowers or burning incense. and that the main pillars bear the face of the goddess Hathor; This type of column is known as a hathork. In the Hall of Pillars there are highlights showing the deification of the king, the destruction of his enemies in the north and south (in these scenes the king is accompanied by his wife), and the queen makes offerings to the goddess Hathor and Mut. The hypostyle hall is followed by an atrium, which gives access through three large doors. On the south and north walls of this room are two poetic reliefs - of the king and his entourage presenting papyrus and plants to Hathor, who is described as a cow on a ship sailing in a bundle of papyrus. On the Western Wall, Ramses II and Nefertari make offerings to the god Horus and the divinities Catraktis - Satis, Anubis, and Khnum. The temple's rock cut, and the two adjoining rooms are connected to the transverse atrium and lined up with the axis of the temple. The lower projections on the small side walls highlight scenes of the presentation of documents to various deities, whether presented by the pharaoh or the queen. On the rear wall, which lies to the west along the axis of the temple, is a niche of Hathor as a sacred cow, apparently emerging from the mountain: the goddess is described as the mistress of the temple dedicated to her and to Queen Nefertari, who is closely related to the goddess. Each temple has a special priest representing the king in the daily religious ceremonies. In theory, the pharaoh should be the sole priest to perform daily religious rites in various temples across Egypt. In fact, it was the High Priest who played this role. To reach this position, it was necessary to reach this center, to expand the education of art and science, as was the Pharaoh. Reading, writing, geometry, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, space measurements, time measurement are all part of the learning process. For example, the priests of Heliopolis became the guardians of sacred knowledge and gained the reputation of sages.