Ancient Egypt

The Colossi of Ramesses II

Abu Simbel

. . . . .Ramesses II built seven temples in Nubia. The huge, rock cut temple of Abu Simbel is the most impressive. Construction began around the fifteenth year of his reign and continued for about twenty years. Somewhere during this time, Ramesses ordered his workmen to re-carve the scenes on the walls to portray him as an equal of the gods. When it was finished Ramesses called it "The House of Ramesses, Beloved of Amun." Pictured here are two of the four giant statues of Ramesses II that make up the facade of the temple. They tower 66 feet above the ground.

. . . . .Almost as amazing a feat as the original construction, was the dismantling and moving of the monument some 215 feet to higher ground where it was reconstructed. It was moved to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, which was formed when the Aswan High Dam was built in the early 1960's. The moving of this temple and the smaller temple that Ramesses built for his favorite Queen, the beautiful Nefertari, took four years. It was carried out with financial and technical assistance from around the world. The final price tag was 40 million US dollars.

The next photograph is
Looking up to Ramesses II

Return to the
Ancient Gallery Directory

Learn more about
Ramesses II

Home Page

Ancient Gallery Directory

Tour Egypt. .Egyptian Mythology Gallery

Time Warp Gallery Directory. . Modern Gallery Directory

Gallery Store Directory. . Egyptian Web Sites. . The Children's Gallery

Gallery Guest Book. ...Ancient Egyptian Design. ...Send E-mail. . . Search the WWW