Backside of the hillock holding the temple of Abu Simbel in south Egypt

The current structure of the temple at Abu Simbel is a mix of old and new. The temple was originally built during the time of the Great Pharaoh Ramesses II, and served as a reminder to the people in the area and visitors from Nubia making their way on the Nile to Egypt about the greatness of the pharaoh for having constructed such a huge structure. However, the plans for the construction of the High Dam at Aswan envisaged the creation of a huge fresh water reservoir which would contain the dammed up water of the River Nile, leading to the creation of Lake Nasser. The high waters of the lake were going to submerge the temple, and hence it was moved to a higher level but with exactly the same configuration (including the light effect where twice a year light from the sun would reach inside the inner sanctum of the temple and light up some of the gods but not the god of the underworld).

The Mysteries of Abu Simbel: Ramesses II	View Larger Map

skyline acrylic prints