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Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae
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How it came to be
Around 1264 BC Ramesses II began cutting the Great Temple of Abu Simbel into a cliff on the Nile's west bank, fronted by four colossal seated statues of himself. The work is thought to have taken about 20 years.
The Aswan High Dam threatened to flood Nubia, so UNESCO launched an international rescue campaign in 1960. From 1963 to 1968 the Abu Simbel temples were cut into 1,036 blocks and rebuilt 65 metres higher, and Philae was moved to Agilkia Island in 1977–1980.
Travellers who came here
- 1828-12
1828-12 · PhilaeHe reached the island on the evening of 5 December with a painful left foot, and here at last received letters from Europe.
1828-12 · Wadi es-SebuaOn 20 December he stopped for one hour at the temple of Ramesses II with its avenue of sphinxes, and took a piece of its mortar for his friend Vicat.
1829-01 · AmadaHe studied the temple from 18 to 20 January, reading in its dedication that it was founded by Thutmose III, and judged its carving finer than that of Derr and even the religious scenes of Abu Simbel.
1829-01 · KalabshaPassed without landing on the way upstream, the temple of Kalabsha was studied on 27 January. From the 28th to midday on the 31st he worked at nearby Beit el-Wali, copying in full its reliefs of the campaigns of the young Ramesses II.
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