Take your mind back in time - It was during the 19th Dynasty and the reign of the Pharaoh Ramses the Great (Ramses II). While on his way to do battle, the Pharaoh noted a great cliff face by the border of Nubia and Egypt. Later he would return and over 20 years, starting in around 1244 BC, change that rock-face into the entrance of a great temple complex, comprising two temples - one in homage to himself and the other to his Great Royal Wife, Nefertari (not to be confused with Nefertiti). The main temple displays four 20 metre seated colossi of Ramses, two each on either side of the entrance.  The smaller temple to the north has six carved colossi, four of Ramses and two of Nefertari. This complex was a monument built to show the might and power of Egypt after the Battle of Kadesh against the Hittites. Inside are multiple columns and walls covered with carvings of the Pharaoh and his wife paying homage to the gods as well as scenes from the battle. The great temple itself is dedicated to the sun gods Amon-Re and Re-Horakhte.

 

Now, jump forward to 1813 when they were rediscovered by a Swiss researcher by the name of Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, and then to 1817 when Engineer/Egyptologist Giovanni Belzoni first explored the temple, still mainly buried beneath the sands. 

 

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    Copy of David Roberts print 'Front Elevation of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel'               Copy of David Roberts print 'Inside the Great Temple of Abu Simbel' (1848)

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Jump again to the 1960's and the new Aswan High Dam is being constructed. The downside of this project is that many of the ancient temples are going to be submerged and lost under the rising Nile. The Abu Simbel temples were a tribute to engineering in ancient times and not something to be lost, so a decision was made to save it (and others).

 

So how do you move a mountain? 

The temples were dismantled and relocated so that the current site of the temples is now 64 metres (about 200 feet) above and 180 metres (600 feet) west of the original location. 

 

How did they did it is a whole other story. 

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                                                                 The façade and inside Abu Simbel today

 

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