Around 1286 BCE, builders started work at Abu Simbel. Sacred to a local form of Horus, this sandstone mountain would become one of the most famous monuments in the Nile Valley. It was called the “House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun,” and provided a home for dozens of deities. Within, sunlight illuminated its sanctuary on certain days, and the King could honour himself in a “Temple of Millions of Years.” Thanks to some lesser-known records, we explore the function and creation of this renowned shrine.
Prologue
One day, around 1286 BCE, a great ship sailed upriver along the Nile. It was a dark brown, made of cedar wood, with a sail of red and green fabric, and a cabin amidships decorated in gold, silver, and gems. This royal barge belonged to Egypt’s pharaoh, Wasmuriya Satepnaria Riamessesa (or Ramesses II). He was taking a trip southward, into the land of Nubia.
It was now regnal year 6, and the King was busy with new projects. Along the Nile Valley, new temples were rising; and older monuments were covered in scaffolding or surrounded by mudbricks, as builders added new structures. It was a construction program of tremendous proportions. Not since the days of Amunhotep III (of Dynasty XVIII), or perhaps even Sneferu (of Dynasty IV), had something similar occurred. The builders of Egypt were working on a scale not seen in generations.
Now, the pharaoh was going to start something truly special.
The royal barge approached a promontory, on the west bank of the river. A great mountain emerged sharply from the waters and curved northward, following the contours of the river. Made of sandstone, it bore the unmistakable lines of sediment, accumulating horizontally in thick bands. On the eastern side, the mountain presented a sharp drop, almost a cliff face, overlooking the river.
It was a mountain we know as Abu Simbel.
Waiting on the bank, a high official was prepared to welcome the pharaoh. He was well-dressed, in fine linens and jewellery; and his entourage was sizable, consisting of secretaries, assistants, soldier bodyguards, and various hangers-on. The man’s name was Iuny (possibly pronounced Ony), and he was a high-ranking member of the government. Iuny held the title of sA-nsw n kAS, or “The King’s Son of Kush,” commonly known as the Viceroy of Nubia. One of the highest royal officials, Iuny managed the business of Egypt’s southern colonial empire. They oversaw the fortresses, the temples and towns, the gold mines and trade routes, and they took responsibility for security. The Viceroys of Kush, and their local government, ruled Nubia on behalf of the Crown.
Naturally, this also involved building projects. And as the royal barge tied up at the base of the mountain, Iuny’s scribes (maybe architects) were ready to present a most interesting plan.
According to inscriptions, at Abu Simbel itself, the site was chosen as a sacred mountain for a god. That god was Horus, lord of kingship. Specifically, a version of Horus called 1r-nb-MHA, or “Horus the Lord of Meha.” Meha was the region in which Abu Simbel is located; and you can find references to Horus Lord of Meha at nearby temples, like Abu Hoda.[1] But the mountain itself was, apparently, viewed as Horus’ domain.
What better place for a new royal monument?
The plan was simple enough in concept. Abu Simbel has all the standard features of a New Kingdom temple. It begins with an open-air court, fronting the river; then a pylon, shaped like a flat-topped pyramid; and colossal statues on the façade. Passing the threshold, one enters a columned court, then a vestibule, and finally the hidden sanctuary. In a blueprint, it’s all relatively straightforward.
The catch, though, was the material. Instead of building this monument in blocks, dragged from quarries… the temple itself was the quarry. Working in reverse, the builders were going to fashion the sanctum, the courts, the pylons and the colossi out of the mountain bedrock. This wasn’t a unique project, rulers like Hatshepsut and Horemheb had commissioned such rock-cut temples before. But Ramesses and his architects were planning one on a vastly different scale.
Names & Functions
Today, we know these monuments as the Great and Small Temples. In antiquity, their names were more evocative. The Great Temple was called pr-Ra-ms-s Mry-Imn, or “The House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun.” In Late Egyptian, you might pronounce that as Pai-Riamessesa, Mai-Amana.
The Small Temple was called… well… we actually don’t have a name for that one. The inscriptions in the monument don’t give a sense that it has a distinct identity, separate from the “Great” Temple. That probably tells us something about the religious boundaries. Although they are two separate buildings; the Great and Small Temples are part of a shared complex, united in purpose and dedication.
Deities
As for the gods, involved in these temples… Well, that’s a bit more complicated. There are a lot of deities named and depicted in the halls and sanctuaries. I’ll just introduce the big players.
The first deity you meet, when you visit the Great Temple, is the sun god Ra. Specifically, Ra-Horakhty (Ra-the-Horus-of-the-Horizons). He appears on the façade, in the very middle, between the colossal statues. An images of the god (as a human male with falcon head) emerges from a niche. He wears a sun disc as a crown, and he clutches two sceptres. In his left hand, the god holds a feather representing Ma’at (goddess of Order, Truth, Reality). In his right hand, Ra clutches a short staff, with a jackal head. This is Usir (or “Power”). Classic symbols, but they do combine to make something cool. If you add up Ra’s sceptres, together with the god himself, you get Usir-Ma’at-Ra, the name of the King.
Once you go inside, you’ll find a bewildering array of gods and goddesses. Starting, at the very back, you have the Inner Sanctum. It houses four statues. From right to left, when you’re facing them, you have Ra-Horakhty (Ra-Horus-of-the-Horizons). Then, a statue of Ramesses himself (more on that in a moment). A statue of Amun-Ra, the King of the Gods, with his distinctive crown of plumes. Finally, we have a statue of Ptah, the master of speech and craftworking.
For the rest of the temple, things get more complex. Across the walls we have dozens of deities. At least forty-two, in total.[2] You can find images of Anpu (Anubis); Astarte (or Ishtar); Khnum (the ram, who fashioned humanity); Ma’at (the cosmic Order); Usir/Osiris; Ise/Isis; Sakhmet; Sobek; Djehuty/Thoth; Hathor and Horus; and many, many more. The sanctuaries of Abu Simbel, the House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun, are home to a vast conclave of powerful beings.
Ramesses-the-God
Among those many gods, there is also a new one. On the walls of Abu Simbel, you can find Ramesses making offerings to himself. He usually sits enthroned, with other deities;[3] and he has his own “divine speech,” where he says to (himself, as a living king) ‘I gave to you all life, stability, and dominion.’ Phrases like that appear in multiple scenes at Abu Simbel; and other temples commissioned by Ramesses in Nubia.[4] In some cases, you can even find the king identified as “Usirmaatra, the Great God of Ta-Sety (or Nubia).”[5]
We also have images of the King’s statue in a barque shrine (a portable boat, carried by priests). The best example is in the Sanctuary itself, where the King stands before his own barque and burns incense, making offerings to his divine image.[6] The barque has a name, it is called “The Boat of Ramesses-Beloved-of-Amun, who is Within the House of Amun.”
This self-worship was not new. Kings like Amunhotep III had done it, quite explicitly, in their own Nubian temples. And it’s quite a large topic, that we’ll explore in the future. For now, let me just point out a couple cool details, for folks visiting Abu Simbel.
When you first enter the temple, you are facing west towards the sanctuary. If you walk through the Hypostyle Hall (past the columns carved like Ramesses), you’ll reach the next doorway. Do not go through; instead, look to the walls on the right and left of that doorway. Here, on the western walls, you can find images of the King standing before shrines. He makes offerings, brings prisoners as tribute, and all that jazz. What’s interesting is the figures within the shrines. Underneath baldachins, three gods sit enthroned; and one of them is Ramesses. The King sits, between male and female deities. He wears a sun disc on his head; a nemes headdress (the cloth one); and a pair of rams’ horns, at his brow. The horns connect Ramesses with Amun; specifically with a form of Amun popular in Nubia.
The artists originally depicted two gods, male and female, but once the “deification” process started they went back and inserted figures of Ramesses in the middle. To do that, they had to recarve the goddess figures; and if you look closely at these western walls, you can still see the original outlines of the female deities. The recarvings were meant to be covered up with plaster and paint, but now that’s gone, the shadows of these altered goddesses are visible once more. It’s a fun detail if you like to spot artistic features.
Abu Simbel records the process by which Ramesses made himself a living god; the overlord of Nubia; a divine being on earth. Again, we’ll explore this phenomenon more in future. For now, let’s move on.
Inception
Construction work probably started in the first decade of Ramesses’ reign. We don’t have an exact date, unfortunately. The relocation of the temple, in the 1960s, means that a lot of the archaeological context is lost. There are a couple clues that suggest an early start date. For one thing, the children who appear on the façade of the temple (by the colossal statues) are all Ramesses’ eldest sons and daughters. People like Amunherkhopeshef and Bintanat (the first-born prince and princess), and their immediate siblings. That doesn’t confirm a date, but it suggests that work started early, when these were the most prominent children; and before they started dying. So, first decade, give or take.
Management
Once the project started, we get more information. For one thing, we have a reasonably good idea of its manager. The Viceroy of Nubia, named Iuny, left inscriptions at Abu Simbel marking his participation in the project.[7] Iuny’s career is well-documented. He first rose to prominence in the days of Sety I, where he acted as a Charioteer and then got promoted to “Overseer of Works” in Karnak. Which means Iuny might be responsible for the Great Hypostyle Hall; at least, for the management side of the construction.[8] Having done a good job there, Iuny received another promotion and became the King’s Son of Kush (or Viceroy). He held that position during the early reign of Ramesses II. So, his inscription at Abu Simbel gives us another clue to the project’s date. Probably in the first decade, maybe around Year 5 or 6.
Anyway…
To mark his involvement, Iuny commissioned a rock stela, just next to the Small Temple (the one dedicated to Nefertari). You can find it on the northern side, to your right when you face the monument directly. The carving is a horizontal rectangle. On the left, the King Ramesses sits enthroned, with an elaborate crown on his head. To the right, Iuny stands before the King. The Viceroy is depicted quite modestly, in an ankle-length robe, holding a crook (or Heka, meaning rule) and an ostrich-feather fan. He bends forward slightly in deference to the King. And hieroglyph texts record his dedication for Ramesses:
“The King’s Son of Kush, says [to the King]: ‘May your father Amun-Ra endow you with life, stability, and dominion, may he grant you Eternity (HH) as King of the Two Lands, everlasting Ruler of the Nine Bows.’ Made by the King’s Son of Kush, Iuny, the man of Hennennesut.”[9]
The inscription doesn’t include any significant historical detail. But it does tell us Iuny’s origin. While he worked in Nubia, he originally came from the Faiyum, the ancient town of Hen-en-nesut (commonly known as Herakleopolis). So, he was a northerner, despatched to the colonial territories, to govern for the King.
The stela is quite short. In fact, there’s a lot of blank space; sections that Iuny could have filled with hieroglyphs (like dedications or a biography). But he didn’t; as a result, the Stela sits in a kind of “empty space,” with visible gaps in the composition. That may sound like a trivial detail, but it does potentially give us a clue. Iuny may have commissioned this stela shortly before his death; the sculptors would have prepared the rock face, drafted the scenes in ink, and started carving. But if that took time, or if the artists were doing a little bit here, a little bit there, the stela may have been “in progress” when the Viceroy passed away. That’s speculative, but the fact that such an important official left such a prominent rock carving unfinished is noteworthy.
Assuming Iuny did die, what happened to the building project? Well, another stela may give us the clue.
Inspection
Just to the south of the Great Temple, another royal official left his mark.[10] His name was Asha-Hebsed (or “Millions of Sed-Festivals”); a weirdly sycophantic name, but that’s quite common in this period. Asha-Hebsed had worked for King Sety I, as a Troop Commander and a diplomat (or “).[11] He had led mining expeditions into the Sinai Peninsula, in search of turquoise and copper. So, he was experienced in management; organising soldiers and labourers far from home. He was also a Diplomat (a King’s Messenger to All Foreign Lands”).So, he probably knew how to deal with people and negotiations.
Following his accession, Ramesses promoted Asha-Hebsed. First, he made him the Chief of Bodyguards (or Hry-Smsw).[12] A plum position, close to the King, and responsible for his personal safety. He doesn’t mention it in his monuments, but the title of Chief of Bodyguards probably means that Asha-Hebsed was at the Battle of Kadesh; maybe even leading the Sherden (or Sea Peoples) whom Ramesses shows in his entourage. I’m speculating there, but this official was professionally close to the King, and he had titles related to royal safety; it makes sense he would join those military expeditions.
Anyway… Ramesses also demonstrated his great trust in Asha-Hebsed by making him a wbA-nswt, or “King’s Cupbearer.”
Put that together, and we get an idea of Asha-Hebsed as an official. He had military experience, leading expeditions to the desert wastes; he had been a Diplomat, a King’s Envoy; and he was probably familiar with battle, being the Chief of Bodyguards around the time of Kadesh. Now, he was close to Ramesses himself, one of the most (publicly) trusted officials in the court.
With that in mind, I imagine Asha-Hebsed as a “fixer” type. An Problem-Solver, or Enforcer, a man who… gets things done. It’s an impression that Asha-Hebsed himself was eager to foster. On a rock stela, next to the Great Temple at Abu Simbel, he left the following report:
“His Person (the King)… was alert in seeking out every excellent deed, in performing good things for his father, Horus-Lord-of-Meha, in making for him his Temple of Millions of Years, it being excavated in the Mountain of Meha. Never had the like been done previously, only (by) the Son of Amun, lord of renown in all lands. He (the King) carried off numerous workpeople as the captures of his strong arm, from every foreign country. He filled the estates of the gods with the children of Syria (Retjenu)…
“The Royal Cupbearer Asha-Heb-Sed was charged to inspect the land of Kush, with the victorious arm of His Person (LPH).
“(Ashahebsed) says: ‘Hail to you, O King of Egypt (nswt kmt), Sun of the Nine Bows! There are none rebellious in your time, your land is at peace. Your father Amun has decreed for you every land under your two feet, he has given to you the South like the North, the West, and the East, and the islands in the midst of the (Great) Green Sea!”[13]
Amidst the rhetoric, we get three pieces of valuable information. First, Asha-Hebsed calls the temple of Abu Simbel a Hwt-HHw-rnpwt, “Temple of Millions of Years.”[14] That is usually the designation for a Mortuary Temple (the sanctuaries dedicated to individual Kings in their lifetime, and for eternity). We often think of rulers having just one “Mortuary Temple,” but there can be multiple. Ramesses had them in Waset (near the Valley of the Kings); in Abydos; and probably one near Men-Nefer (Memphis). Apparently, Abu Simbel was also designated as one of these. That would fit with the King’s “self-deification” I mentioned earlier. When the ruler is making himself a living god, every temple in his name can be a Temple of Eternity.
Secondly, Asha-Hebsed mentions slaves. Captives brought from Syria (or Retjenu) who would “fill the estates” of the gods. Presumably, these prisoners worked on farms, orchards, vineyards, and as porters, labourers, and manufacturers. We’ll come back to slavery as a concept, and its nuances, in a future episode. For now, Asha-Hebsed gives a rare record of the captive economy at work under Ramesses II..
Finally, the official mentions his role as a Fixer. Apparently, Asha-Hebsed was “charged to inspect the land of Kush, with the victorious arm of His Person.” This phrase, the Victorious Arm, is a specific one; it refers to an expedition, usually military, conducted on the King’s behalf, but which he doesn’t attend in person. So, if Ramesses leads an army to Nubia himself, he’ll describe that in personal terms; but if he sends an army, he’ll call that force the “Victorious Arm.” Apparently, Asha-Hebsed led one of these. It’s unclear if he means a military expedition, perhaps to quell an uprising or expand the borders; or if he simply means a force of soldiers (and labourers) coming to do work. There’s a lot of overlap between the army and the builders, in pharaonic society.
Anyway… Asha-Hebsed doesn’t give a date for this ‘inspection’ (or sipd).[15] But it was probably after the death of Iuny, the Viceroy. Maybe, in the ensuing power vacuum, there was instability in Nubia; and the King wanted it dealt with. Or maybe there had been an uprising. Or maybe Ramesses merely sent his trusted official to ensure the business side of things stayed orderly. The fact that this inscription is at Abu Simbel specifically, instead of one of the other temples (or a city in Nubia) might indicate that Asha-Hebsed was despatched to inspect the work. Get things on track, as it were.
Completion
Officials like Iuny and Asha-Hebsed are the only reliable testimonies for the building of Abu Simbel. Minor hiccups (like Iuny’s death) aside, we don’t hear about any significant disruptions or issues in the process. It may have been a relatively straightforward project.
How long did it take?
Again, we don’t have firm evidence. But based on the inscriptions within the monument, and the royal children who appear on the walls, the Great Temple was probably finished around Year 25.[16] It was definitely finished by Year 34, when the King’s representatives started changing parts of the decoration, and adding new inscriptions (with dates, for convenience). We’ll come back to some of those in the future. Point is, Abu Simbel (the main sanctuary) probably took about twenty years to quarry, carve, and decorate. This might seem slow, but we should remember: Ramesses commissioned dozens of temples, along the Nile Valley. And Abu Simbel is unusual, in that it’s not built in stone blocks, but rather quarried out of a mountain. So, most of the work would be done by the stonecutters, specialist masons with high-quality tools and a great deal of experience. That kind of worker doesn’t grow on farms, no matter how many captives work the fields. So, the workforce that excavated Abu Simbel (and decorated it) were probably specialised. Even on a good year, the skilled masons would have been in short supply, as the teams were stretched across a huge number of monuments.
So, twenty years, give or take, probably in a “stop start” fashion, as work crews rotated. Officially, the project was led by the Viceroy of Nubia – first Iuny, and then one of his successors. Occasionally, Ramesses had to despatch a Fixer to inspect the project and ensure smooth operations. Men like Asha-Hebsed, Troop Commander, Diplomat, Chief of Bodyguards, and Cupbearer, saw to that business. Over the course of decades, these work crews and their leaders slowly got the job done.
Solar Alignment
Now, there is one last feature that I should really mention. It concerns a phenomenon that occurs in Abu Simbel. Twice a year, in February and October, sunlight shines directly through the entrance of the Great Temple. It passes along the Hypostyle and Inner Halls and enters the Sanctuary. There, the light shines directly upon three statues, the images of Ra-Horakhty, Ramesses II, and Amun-Ra. The figure of Ptah, on the southern (or left) side of the Sanctuary, remains in darkness.
The solar alignment draws great curiosity; and apparently crowds throng to Abu Simbel on the respective days. I’ve never witnessed it, personally. But I hear it’s impressive, rather meditative in its silent splendour.
Why does this happen? Or more accurately, why does the alignment happen on these particular days?
The popular explanation, which you’ll hear from most tour guides, is that the solar alignment occurs on two dates important to Ramesses. The first is his birthday; the second is his date of coronation. Is that true?
Well, to be perfectly honest, we don’t know. Within the temples themselves, you won’t find any hieroglyph inscription – or artistic scene – that mentions this alignment. Nor do they reference any particular date that might be significant. If it is intentional, we don’t know what date it is supposed to mark.
But that’s not particularly satisfying. So, let’s explore the hypotheticals.
Firstly, the birthday and coronation idea. In this case, we are dealing largely with folklore. The birthday of Ramesses II is unknown. The date he became King (after the death of his father) was III Smw 27 and was celebrated as an annual festival.[17] But that date was in late June or early July, so unless the calendar was terribly out of synch (which is possible)
Ramesses’ coronation also does not have a particular date; and he probably didn’t practice one single coronation ceremony, but instead might have had several, at different temples before different gods.
Another idea is that the alignment is meant to mark the King’s Sed-Festival.[18] The grand jubilee, to rejuvenate Ramesses’ rule, in the thirtieth year of his reign. That was argued by scholars like Louis Christophe and Jan Haagen in the 1960s; later picked up by Robert Bauval in 2008;[19] and repeated in 2023 by Göran Henricksson.[20] The argument goes that, based on the dates of later sed-festivals, the one in Year 30 happened in the first month of Peret (around February). Hypothetically, the architects who planned Abu Simbel used astronomical observation and simple mathematics to figure out the relevant date on which the sun would shine into the sanctuary. This one is entirely possible; at the very least, we do know the Sed-Festival was a significant occasion, and some of those jubilees are dated in the written record. Unfortunately, it does have issues. Firstly, the temple itself has no visible connection with the Sed-Festival; we don’t get any of the normal art or texts, related to the Jubilee, on the walls or inscriptions.[21] And the stela of Asha-Hebsed… calls Abu Simbel a Memorial Temple (Temple of Millions of Years) rather than mentioning the Sed-Festival. Additionally, observations of the illumination in 1961 found that the phenomenon did not exactly line up with the supposed date of the festival (Haagen found “there is a difference of two or three days between the date of the royal Jubilee established by Louis Christophe and the date at which the sun rises in the axis of the temple”).[22] That doesn’t mean the argument is dead in the water: sed-festivals were not a one-day affair; they lasted weeks. But it does mean that, if you’re trying to pinpoint an exact significance, the Sed-Festival is possible but has a couple of gaps in its foundations.
Finally, another interpretation connects Abu Simbel’s alignment with a fertility festival. In 2021, a researcher named Kyle Weyburne argued that the temple is aligned to mark the festival of Khoiak.[23] This was an annual celebration, linked to the death and resurrection of Usir (Osiris); and partially celebrating the appearance of the flood, coming from the south (i.e., from Nubia). This argument does have some points going for it. For one thing, the Khoiak festival is well-documented in the days of Ramesses II and later generations. Thanks to inscriptions on temple walls, we know it occurred in the IV Month of Akhet, days 21—30.[24] Roughly speaking, that is late October in the Gregorian Calendar. So, the solar illumination would have happened in the very middle of the Khoiak festival. However, the Egyptian calendar was not perfectly aligned with the solar cycle (they had 365 days, instead of the 365.25 that the earth requires to orbit the sun). Scholars must make all kinds of assumptions about years and chronology, to line things up. So, it’s another one of those “possible, but unconfirmed” ideas. The notion that the solar illumination connects with the death and resurrection of Osiris (and by extension, with Ramesses in his Temple of Millions of Years, as Asha Hebsed calls it) is an attractive one. Bonus points if the Khoiak Festival occurs, on time, at the start of the inundation. That would make the temple a good “clock” as it were for the season of flood and the planting to come. Certainly, it would be easier to calculate the sun’s alignment at Khoiak (occurring annually) rather than trying to determine an alignment for the Sed-Festival happening decades in the future. The Khoiak idea has some merit, as far as the hypotheses go.
So, a few different hypotheses. Ramesses’ birthday, coronation day, jubilee festival, or the annual Khoiak celebration, have all appeared as explanations for the solar alignment. The birthday and coronation are more “folklore” explanations; there’s no particular reason to take those as the marker. The Jubilee and Khoiak explanations are both possible, but they also have gaps in the evidence.
Ultimately, the best we can say is that: the choice of these dates, in February and October, does not have a satisfactory explanation. We can guess that the alignment is intentional (more on that in a moment), but why those days in particular? Unknown. Until excavations, maybe at some other temple or settlement, bring up a reference to the illumination… researchers are stuck with educated guesses at best. That may be terribly unsatisfying; but it is what it is.
Fortunately, the meaning of the illumination is easier to understand.[25] The entrance of sunlight, through the temple entrance, to fill the sanctuary, had a potent “magical” element. Ancient Egyptian statues were not just works of art, or sculpture; they were physical bodies for the being they depicted. Such bodies were, in their own way, alive; the ancients called them “living images” (or tjt anx). And the sunlight that entered the sanctuary brought life to these bodies.[26] In that sense, the illumination connected the physical sun (Ra) with his statue, and that of his son Ra-messes, and the god Amun-Ra. These solar beings, enthroned in the sanctuary, received their rejuvenating light, twice a year.
Ptah, unfortunately, did not. Even before the temple was moved (in the 1960s) the solar alignment only reached his shoulder. The god sits, mostly, in darkness. Physically, that seems to be intentional. The builders could have widened the door of the sanctuary, to allow the sunlight in for that deity. But they didn’t; and there’s no evidence that Ptah’s statue was added later or anything. So, apparently, the god is meant to be in darkness.
Why? Well, it’s probably religious.
Ptah has many roles: artisan, master of thought, Creator god. By the age of Ramesses II, Ptah had also acquired connections with the earth and the Duat (or underworld).[27] He could appear as the creative deity Ptah-Tatenen, or the falcon Ptah-Sokar. Both of whom are associated with the night and the regeneration of the life cycle. With that in mind, Ptah was becoming a deity who often dwelled in darkness. By placing his statue off the main temple axis, the god was in his proper abode. He still received a sliver of sunlight, giving him some rejuvenation and connection to Ra. But in religious terms, that may explain the alignment. Again, there are no hieroglyphs to explain this more specifically; but given the nature of Ptah, that is the best (current) explanation.
So, twice a year, the sun’s light entered the sanctuary and connected the statues of Ra-Horakhty, Ra-messes, and Amun-Ra, with their celestial counterpart. Whether the particular dates of the alignment have a special significance is uncertain at best. But the meaning is clear. The warmth and light of the sun was a blessing, rejuvenating the stone bodies of these beings.
Today, the temple of Abu Simbel stands in a different location from its original site. When moving the monument, in the 1960s, the salvage team took special care to properly re-align the temple on the same axis it had once occupied. However, the physical limitations of the site meant they couldn’t do it exactly as before. Today, the illumination occurs one day later than it did before the temple was moved. So, whatever the original intention, the monument is now slightly “out of date” with its first incarnation. It is a shame, but an unavoidable on in the circumstances; and a rare case where one can genuinely say, getting there early is on time, turning up on time is late.
Why Here?
Abu Simbel is a wonderfully complex temple. Officially, it is the “House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun;” and from at least one record, it may have functioned as one of the King’s numerous Memorial Temples. It is also home to numerous deities, more than forty in total. Including powerful gods like Ra-Horakhty, Horus (specifically the local form of Horus); Amun-Ra; Ptah; Hat-hor; Sakhmet; and many more. So, it’s not just a temple for the King, but a home for many of Egypt and Nubia’s to dwell in the sacred mountain.
Of course, the temple also has a political function. Demonstrated most immediately by that façade. The colossal statues of the King (and the image of Ra-Horakhty in the centre of the façade) stare out, eastward, over the river Nile. First and foremost, these images communicate a sense of power; and for passersby or visitors, they are clearly meant to elicit a response.[29] Fear, awe, admiration, obedience… Any who saw the temple, from their tiny boats on the Nile, would face the colossi from as low a position it was possible to get. You can see this in old photos. Before the temple was relocated, the mountain and colossi genuinely loomed over the river’s edge. Today, they are set much further back from the water (for conservation), which has slightly reduced the imposing aspect. But nevertheless, these mighty statues continue to impress, even overawe, many observers. Combine that with a worldview that treated Ramesses (and by extension his stone image) as a living god, a being capable of miracles and overwhelming all lands… the façade of Abu Simbel communicated power above all. Divinely sanctioned power, that came from the greatest of gods; who bestowed their blessings directly on the King, when they illuminated his statues (both outside and in). Beyond Ramesses himself, the temple communicates the strength of the Egyptian King as a concept. The living Horus, son of Osiris, heir to Ra; seated on the throne of the living, the god who stamps his authority over all foreign lands… It is that eternal being (in the current form of Ramesses II) who sits at the edge of the river, communicating his majesty to countless generations.
Outro
This is just a brief introduction to the Great Temple of Abu Simbel. We’ll visit the Small Temple (for Hathor and Queen Nefertari) in the future; and I’ll do a Livestream about the Great Temple in a few weeks. To see that, just check out my YouTube channel; link in the episode description.
If you’re interested in books about Abu Simbel, there are many. Probably the best one, in terms of “detailed but also accessible” is a 2020 book called Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples by Nigel Fletcher-Jones. It introduces both the Great and Small Temples, the deities appearing in them, and the other monuments constructed in this region by different rulers.
[1] Temple of Horemheb at Abu Hoda: PM VII, 121 (3).
[2] Fletcher-Jones, Simbel and the Nubian Temples, 77—120.
[3] Habachi, Features of the Deification of Ramesses II, 1—16.
[4] Habachi, Features of the Deification, 9—11.
[5] Bayer, C. (2016). Amenophis “Der Prachtige”—Vorfahre und Vorbild Ramses’ des Grossen. In L. Petersen & N. Kehrer (Eds.), Ramses: Göttlicher Herrscher am Nil (pp. 46–49), particularly p. 46.
[6] Habachi, Features of the Deification, 6, fig. 5,
[7] PM VII, 117—118 (10); KRITA, II, 47—48.
[8] RITANC, III, 57—58.
[9] KRITA, II, 47—48.
[10] KRITA, III, 142; PM VII, 117 (9).
[11] Sinai, Serabit el-Khadim: KRI I, 62—63; KRITA I, 53—54; KRITANC I, 58.
[12] KRI II, 340; KRITA II, 178; KRITANC II, 201.
[13] KRITA, III, 142.
[14] From stela of Asha-Hebsed, KRI III, 204:2.
[15] KRI, III, 204:5.
[16] Date uncertain: Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, chart 2; Arnold, Monuments of Egypt, 2 has Year 34.
[17] Hornung, in Ancient Egyptian Chronology, 211.
[18] Haagen, J. K. van der. (1962). Ramses’ Mysterious Encounter at Dawn at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel. The UNESCO Courier, 10, 10–15. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000063662
[19] Bauval, R. (2008). The Sunrise of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel. https://www.academia.edu/11603171/THE_SUNRISE_OF_RAMSES_II_AT_ABU_SIMBEL
[20] Haagen, J. K. van der. (1962). Ramses’ Mysterious Encounter at Dawn at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel. The UNESCO Courier, 10, 10–15. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000063662
[21] Kitchen, Pharaoh Triumphant, 252.
[22] Haagen, “Ramses’ Mysterious Encounter at Dawn,” 14.
[23] Weyburne, K. A. (2021). Determining the Dates of the Illumination of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel and their Relation to Khoiak. Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne, 14, 261–272. http://www.enim-egyptologie.fr/index.php?page=enim-14&n=12
[24] Weyburne, “Dates of the Illumination of the Great Temple,” 264 n. 21.
[25] Meza, A. I. (2009). The Sun’s Rays and the Divine Image of Ramesses II. In A.-A. Maravelia (Ed.), En quête de la lumière / In quest of light: Mélanges in honorem Ashraf A. Sadek (pp. 109–120).
[26] Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, 129—130.
[27] Wilkinson, Complete Gods and Goddesses, 124.
[28] Siuda, Complete Encyclopedia, 528.
[29] Prakash, T. (2024). Emotions and the Manifestation of Ancient Egyptian Royal Power: A Consideration of the Twin Stelae at Abu Simbel. Arts, 13(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060174
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The solar alignment
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