October 27, 2020
Last Thursday, the 22nd of October, an impressive crowd gathered at Abu Simbel to witness the solar alignment phenomenon occurring at the Temple of Ramses II.
Twice a year the sun rays penetrate the temple’s interior in a unique way, illuminating three of the four statues in the inner sanctuary.
The middle statue belong to Ramses II, while the ones beside him to Amun-Re and Re-Horakhty. The fourth statue belongs to the god Ptah who is associated with the underworld and darkness and who remains in the shadows all year.
Abu Simbel Temples remain one of the most impressive monuments of ancient Egypt. The temples were carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC for Ramses II and his wife Nefertari.
In a remarkable feat of engineering, the temple complex was dismantled and rebuilt on a higher hill to make way for the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s.
