Abu Simbel is a site in southern Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile in Nubia, with two temples carved into a sandstone cliff during the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. The Great Temple, dedicated to Ra-Horakhty, Amun and Ptah and to the deified king himself, is guarded by four colossal seated statues of Ramesses. A smaller temple was dedicated to his wife Nefertari and the goddess Hathor. The temples were meant to impress Egypt's southern neighbors. In the 1960s the rising waters of Lake Nasser behind the Aswan High Dam threatened them, and an international campaign led by UNESCO moved them, in blocks, to higher ground between 1964 and 1968.
Before and after
- from c. 1,300s BCE to 500s BCEChavín culture
- from 14th century BCE to 6th century BCEEdom
- from 14th century BCE to 4th century BCEMoab
- from c. 1,292 BCE to 1,189 BCENineteenth Dynasty of Egypt
- c. 1,274 BCEConstruction of Abu Simbel
- from c. 1,258 BCE to 1,180 BCETrojan War
- from 13th century BCE to 6th centuryAncient Greece
- from 13th century BCE to 6th century BCEAncient Israel and Judah
- from 13th century BCE to 4th century BCEMagadha
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 13th century BCEAncient Celts
- from c. 753 BCE to 476 CEAncient Rome
- 7th century BCEConstruction of Hanging Gardens of Babylon
- from 312 BCE to 63 BCESeleucid Empire
- 80 CEThe Colosseum is inaugurated
- from 285 CE to 1453Byzantine Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 13th century BCE.