ABU SIMBEL, or IPSAMBUL, the name of a group of temples of Ramses II, of the XIXth Dynasty, c.1250 B.C. in Nubia, on the left bank of the Nile, 56 m. by river S. of Korosko.
They are hewn in the cliffs at the riverside, at a point where the sandstone hills on the west reach the Nile and form the southern boundary of a wider portion of the generally barren valley.
It was relocated at 1963-72. ; Abu Simbel, Egypt.

History of the name:
Abu Simbel is the name of a group of temples of the pharaoh of Egypt Ramses II.

Discovery of the Temple:
The great temples of the pharaoh Ramses II at Abu Simbel had been unknown to the West until 1813, when they were visited by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (1784-1817).

In 1817 Giovanni Belzoni (1778-1823) began the process of digging away the sand that had hidden most of the site. Copies of its hieroglyphic inscriptions were used by Jean-Francois Champollion (1790-1832) as he completed deciphering the Egyptian script a few years later.

In the 1960s the temples at Abu Simbel were moved to prevent their submersion as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

The Temple of Abu Simbel:
The famous temples at Abu Simbel, in the southern Egyptian region of Nubia, were built by the pharaoh Ramses II in about 1260 B.C. to celebrate the thirtieth year of his reign. Building ornate tombs and temples to their own memory was always a priority for pharaohs, who were regarded as "god-kings." To the Egyptians, these statues represented extensions of their being.

But Ramses II may have built more monuments to himself during his 67-year reign than any other ruler in antiquity. Abu Simbel was among his most ambitious undertakings. "His Majesty commanded the making of a mansion in Nubia by cutting in the mountain".

The temples are three in number. The principal temple, probably the greatest and most imposing of all rock-hewn monuments, was discovered by Burckhardt in 1812 and opened by Belzoni in 1817.

The front has been cleared several times, most recently in 1892, but the sand is always pressing forward from the north end. The hillside was recessed to form the facade, backed against which four immense seated colossi of the king, in pairs on either side of the entrance, rise from a platform or forecourt reached from the river by a flight of steps.

The colossi are no less than 65 ft. in height, of nobly placid design, and are accompanied by smaller figures of Rameses' queen and their sons and daughters; behind and over them is the cornice, with the dedication below in a line of huge hieroglyphs, and a long row of apes, standing in adoration of the rising sun above.

The temple is dedicated primarily to the solar gods Amenre of Thebes and Raharakht of Heliopolis, the true sun god; it is oriented to the east so that the rays of the sun in the early morning penetrate the whole length of two great halls to the innermost sanctuary and fall upon the central figures of Amenre and Rameses, which are there enthroned with Ptah of Memphis and Raharakht on either side.

This great temple was wholly rock-cut. A small temple, immediately to the south of the first, is believed to have had a built antechamber. The third and northernmost temple, separated from the others by a ravine, is on a large scale; the colossi of the facade are six in number and 53 ft. high, representing Rameses and his queen Nefertairie, who dedicated the temple to the goddess Hathor. The whole group forms a singular monument of Rameses' unbounded pride and self-glorification.

On the base of the chairs on each side of the entrance are reliefs representing captured prisoners: Nubian prisoners to the south and Asians to the north.

On the left: The cartouches at the base represent Ramses's name. On the center and right: Hapi, the Nile-god is represented binding together the symbols of Upper and Lower Egypt - the papyrus and lotus.

The Interior:
The temple interior is cut 61 meters into the mountain. The rectangular pronaos is 18 meters long and more than 16 meters wide.

Eight Osiris pillars (10 meters high) with the features of Ramses have arms crossed, holding a scepter and flail. They are arranged in two rows, those on the left wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, those on the right with the double crown. The great vulture goddess is painted on the ceiling.

Wall decoration depicts military victories of Ramses II. Behind the pronaos are first a small hypostyle hall, then a vestibule, and finally at the rear a small sanctuary. It is oriented so that twice a year the sun shines directly into the sacred space where there are statues of the gods to whom the temple is dedicated.