Abu Simbel Temple

King Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty carved Abu Simble Temple from a mountainside during his II reign. Ramesses II’s massive exterior rock relief statues have become renowned. His wife, Nefertari, and their children are represented as small figures surrounding his feet. Sculptures inside the Great Temple honor Ramesses II’s valiant leadership during the Battle of Kadesh.

To prevent Lake Nasser, the Aswan Dam reservoir, from flooding, a team of experts transferred the Abu Simbel temple to higher land in 1968. A Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michaowski, from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology at the University of Warsaw, supervised the project. They built a domed structure on an artificial hill to house the Abu Simbel Temples as part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia.

To save them from Nile flooding due to Aswan’s high dam, UNESCO relocated Abu Simbel Temple and other Nubian monuments.