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Abu Simbel

Village on the western bank of Lake Nassar, home of the Abu Simbel temples

Contained in: Egypt

Abu Simbel (Arabic: أبو سمبل‎) is a village in Nubia, southern Egypt, near the border with Sudan. Famous for the Abu Simbel temples, two massive rock temples originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II.

The twin tempels serve as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic. The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.