Abu Simbel

 February 14, 2026

Abu Simbel

Today was extraordinary!  A visit to Abu Simbel is something I’ve wanted to do ever since I learned about the site.  Some geography: 

We started our trip in Cairo, to the north, then flew to Luxor, and took our boat to Aswan where we are now.  Abu Simbel is even further south, close to the current border with Sudan.  It was here that Ramses II, who reigned for 66 years (1279-1213 BCE) built two huge temples, one to himself and the other to his Queen Nefertari.  It is thought that the purpose of building here, so far south, was to awe and intimidate the Nubians so that they would not challenge his reign.

The desert here is truly barren, with no rainfall at all, there are no living things—no cactus, no scrub, nothing.  Much of it is a sand ocean with rocky islands poking up: 

We left our dahabeya with our luggage and went to the Aswan airport.  The staff took our bags to the Old Cataract Hotel where we will stay for the next two nights, and we flew south to Abu Simbel where we transferred to the site of the two temples.  The Aswan High Dam creates Lake Nasser, the largest man-made lake in the world.  The length is 340 miles—longer than Lake Michigan (307 miles).  

It was known as the dam was being built that there probably were ancient treasures, as yet undiscovered, in what would turn into the lake bed, and they are now gone.  But the greatest of the ancient constructions were the two temples which were literally cut out of the rock and moved to two artificially created mountains 400 yards higher than their original site. 

The temple on the left is that of Ramses II, and is larger than the Nefertari one on the right.  The four monumental statues on the large temple are all of Ramses II: 

The heads are massive: 

Here’s a photo taken from the internet showing the cutting of the temples as they were moved to their new location: 

The decorations inside are incredible.  I’ll sample just a few.  Here is Ramses II in what’s called the “smiting pose”: 

Bound captives, a warning to the Nubians:

Here is Ra-Horakhty on the left and a kneeling Ramses II presenting offerings: 

Even the side rooms which were used for storage were decorated beautifully: 

After some time in Ramses II temple, we moved to Nefertari’s: 

Here is Queen Nefertari wearing the hathoric crown (a sun disc between cow horns) with two goddesses, Hathor and Isis, alongside her: 

Here is the solar boat—a divine boat which carries the sun god Amun-Ra across the sky in the day and through the underworld at night: 

And in Nefertari’s temple is a relief of Ramses smiting again, just in case you forgot from his temple: 

It was a phenomenal visit, exceeding all expectations.  Just amazing.

We went back to the airport, flew back to Aswan, and checked into the Old Cataract Hotel, a relic from the British which had hosted a “legendary guest list of royals and dignitaries” such as King Fouad and Agatha Christie. 

The end of an exhilarating day.  Tomorrow, we visit the Aswan High Dam and other Aswan sights.