Pharaoh of Egypt
19th Dynasty
Succeeded by:
Merneptah
Ramesses II: one of four external seated statues at Abu
Simbel.
Reign 1279 BC to 1213 BC
The Great Temple of Ramses II (left) and the Temple of Hathor/Nefertari (right)
These rock-cut temples are located in the ancient Wawat (or the legendary Ybsambul) in
Nubia, near the borders of Sudan, about 300 kilometers from Aswan. Earlier temples in
Nubia had been located within forts, but here the confidence of Ramses II, whose reign may
have lasted as many as 67 years, is illustrated; these temples, probably once brightly
colored, were cut into the natural rock and lapped by the Nile. After eleven centuries of
oblivion, these temples were rediscovered in 1813 when Johann Ludwig Burckhardt saw by
accident the upper parts of the colossal figures. In 1817 Giovanni Battista Belzoni found the
entrance, partially freed from the sand. In the following years these temples were often
partially covered by shifting sands.
Today visitors see the reconstructed temples now
relocated on higher ground (60 meters directly above
their earlier position) after the heroic international
rescue efforts to save these treasures from Lake Nasser.
The facade of the Great Temple of Ramses is about 38 meters long and 31 meters high. The
temple is dedicated to the most important gods of the New Kingdom, Ptah (the creator god
of Memphis), Amun-Re (the great god of Thebes) and Re-Harakhte (sun god of Heliopolis),
as well as to the Pharaoh Ramses II himself. The four colossi, statues of Ramses II (c. 12901224 BCE), are more than 20 meters high and about 4 meters from ear to ear.
The colossi depict Ramses II seated with his hands on his thighs. The statue second from
the left is broken, with part of its head and trunk on the ground below. Graffiti by 19th
century visitors are on the legs of the statues (center) and repeated cartouches give Ramses'
name (right).