Tour Description
An early pick-up usually 3-4am from your Aswan hotel with our English speaking tour guide.
The drive to Abu Simbel takes just over 3 hours
Abu Simbel Temple was constructed by the most celebrated Ancient Egyptian King Ramses II.
The temple was mainly cut into a solid rock cliff and was constructed to celebrate the victory of Ramses II that was established during the Hittites at Kadish battle in 1274 B.C.
The temple was dedicated to a number of ancient Egyptian gods such as Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, and Amon.
Abu Simbel complex mainly contains two main temples:
The Grand Temple that stands 30 meters high and 35 meters long, featuring four seated statues of Ramses II on his throne.
The Small Temple was constructed for the Egyptian Queen Nefertari, Ramses II most beloved wife.
The Solar alignment over the Grand temple is one of the Ancient Egypt phenomena.
The rays of the sun penetrate into the temple and lightening the three statues for Ramses II and Amon twice a year; once in February 22 celebrating agriculture and cultivation season, and the second in October 22 celebrating flooding season. Both dates also reflect the date of Ramses II birth and his coronation.
The location of the four statues was chosen so they would darken because Ptah was the god of darkness.
In 1964, due to the construction of the High Dam rising waters threatened the submerge the Temples and with the help of UNESCO a unprecedented display of engineering was able to relocate the temples, saving them from Nile Water
LENGTH OF TOUR: 9-10 hours
Min 2 person
Single Supp applies