The temples of Abu Simbel are located in southern Egypt close to the Sudanese border, along lake Nasser, 220km southwest of Assuan. Originally situated in Nubia along the Nile river, the temples were relocated in a massive international effort between 1964 and 1968 to save them from the rising waters of the Nile river, which were caused by the construction of the Aswan dam. The new location was chosen along the Nasser lake, 65m above the water levels and 200m from the sea shores. The Abu Simbel temples consist of the Great Temple of Ramses II and the smaller temple of Hathor. Both temples were carved into the rock wall. The temples draw a large number of tourists every year and have been a UNESCO world heritage site together with the temple of Philae since 1979. Access to Abu Simbel is possible by plane or road from Assuan, or even by hydrofoil over the Nasser lake. Daytrippers leave Assuan at 4am, reach the temple by 7am to experience the sunrise and leave for Assuan before 10am. A more relaxed way to visit the temples is to stay overnight in one of the hotels in Abu Simbel.
01 Temple of Ramses II at sunrise 02 Temple of Ramses II at sunrise 03 Great temple of Ramses II 04 Great temple of Ramses II
05 Great temple of Ramses II 06 Great temple of Ramses II 07 Great temple of Ramses II
08 Frontal view with head of Ramses statue 09 Head and torso of Ramses statue 10 Statues of Ramses II 11 Statues of Ramses II
12 Statue of Ramses II 13 Statues of Ramses II 14 Statues of Ramses II 15 Statues of Ramses II 16 Statues of Ramses II
17 Statues of Ramses II 18 Statues of Ramses II 19 Statues of Ramses II 20 Statues of Ramses II 21 Statues of Ramses II
22 Hieroglyphs carved into the wall 23 Wall carvings 24 Statue of Egyptian sun god Ra-Harakhty 25 Hypostyle hall with statues of Ramses II 26 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple
27 Hypostyle hall with statues of Ramses II 28 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple 29 Storeroom in the Ramses II temple
30 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple 31 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple
32 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple 33 Wall carvings in the Ramses II temple 34 Great temple of Ramses II
35 Great temple of Ramses II at night 01 Temple of Hathor 02 Hathor temple entrance
03 Temple of Hathor 04 Hathor temple front view 05 Temple of Hathor
06 Temple of Hathor 07 Statues of Egyptian gods 08 Hathor temple front view 09 Temple of Hathor
10 Statue of Egyptian god 11 Temple of Hathor at night 12 Wall carvings 13 Wall carvings 14 Pillar in hypostyle hall with Hathor face
15 Wall carvings 16 Pillars in hypostyle hall
01 Panoramic view of Abu Simbel temples
02 Panoramic view of Abu Simbel temples
03 Panoramic view of Abu Simbel temples 04 Abu Simbel temples
05 Sunset view 06 Sunrise on Lake Nasser 07 Lake Nasser
08 Lake Nasser
09 Lake Nasser
10 Lake Nasser 11 Lake Nasser
12 Lake Nasser
13 Lake Nasser 14 Lake Nasser 15 EgyptAir plane in Abu Simbel airport
16 EgyptAir plane in Abu Simbel airport 17 Temple compound at sunset 18 Great temple at dusk 19 Sound and light show at night
20 Sound and light show at night 21 Temple of Hathor at night 22 Great temple of Abu Simbel at night 23 Temple of Hathor at night
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