Temple of Ramesses II, Egypt

Temple of Ramesses II, Egypt

Temple of Ramesses or the Great temple of Ramesses is located at Abu Simbel and is dedicated to Great Ramesses II a Pharaoh of 19th century along with three other gods Amun Ra, Ra Harakhti and Ptah. The Great temple of Abu Simbel took about 20 years to built and was completed in the 24th year of Ramesses reign.

The entrance of the main temple is 35 meter wide and 108 ft high. 65 ft high-seated four colossal statues wearing the double crown welcomed the visitors at the façade. These statues are carved out of solid rock. Above the doorway in a niche stands Sun God, representation of Ramesses in a falcon form. In his left is the figure of Ma'at. A row of baboons at the entrance was made to greet sun and indeed the monument looks best in the morning and hence the temple is also known by the name of "Sun Temple of Ramesses II".

The entrance of the Great Temple of Ramesses leads into the hypostyle grand hall that is 57 ft in height and 52 ft wide and was craved out of rock. Eight pillars with the statue of Ramesses supported this grand hall. The grand hall of the temple has statues in both north and south side that are distinguished from each other only by style of wearing of crowns.

Beyond the Grand hypostyle hall is the smaller second hypostyle hall with flowered pillars. Scenes in this hall show King and his wife Nefertari worshipping Amun and Re-Harakhte (the Sun God). Beyond the hall is, three chapels among which the central one contained the images of the three deities along with of the king.

Two chapels of the temple are located on either side of the façade. One is in the southeast corner of the temple and consists of three stelae. The other chapel of the temple is dedicated to Sun God and is an open-air chapel. The images of the Khepri and Baboon-Thoth linked with the Temple of Ramesses II are now in the Antiquities Museum of Cairo.

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