Smooth surface on the hillock hosting the temple at Abu Simbel

The temples of Abu Simbel are essentially twin temples, one for the pharaoh, and one for the queen. When they were brought up from their original location (to avoid being submerged by the rising water), both these temples were placed in hillocks with large statues on the outside. In this specific case, this is a smooth surface on the surface of the hillock, and since nature normally does not create smooth surfaces on hills, it must have originally been an opening that was later painted over or covered with a surface of rock.

The Mysteries of Abu Simbel: Ramesses II	View Larger Map

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