The great pharaoh Ramses II, also known as Ramses the Great, was famous for his huge buildings and military adventures. Whenever he conquered territories, he made sure to leave massive statues and monuments to impress local people and remind them of his power. In Nubia to the south of Egypt, he had two big temples carved into a cliff at Abu Simbel. The bigger temple was dedicated to Ramses. Outside his temple are four enormous statues of Ramses sitting on his throne. Each statue is over 60 feet high. Inside the temple are painted pictures telling the story of Ramses' battle against the Hitties at Kadesh. The statues were carved in the walls to warn Nubians who might be thinking of rebelling against his rule. At the very back of the temple, there is a place called the sanctuary. The sanctuary contains a statue of Ramses as a god along side of the gods Ra, Ptah, and Amen. Twice a year, the rising sun shines into the sanctuary which lights up the statue of Ramses.

Click here or on Ramses' statues to the left to get a closer look at Abu Simbel.

In the 1960's, the statues of Ramses were moved because a dam was being built. The place where Abu Simbel stood was going to become a lake flooded with water. So the statues from Abu Simbel were moved by a corporation called UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).

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