Abu Simbel Temples Facts & Worksheets

The Abu Simbel Temples is an ancient Egyptian temple complex carved into the face of a solid rock cliff. The twin temples were constructed to honor King Ramesses II’s victory at the Battle of Kadesh. In 1813, Swiss explorer John Lewis Burckhardt rediscovered the temples after they had become forgotten over time. Since then, these twin temples have become one of Egypt’s most well-known tourist attractions.

See the fact file below for more information on the Abu Simbel Temples or alternatively, you can download our 45-page Abu Simbel Temples worksheet mega-pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

HISTORY

• The Great Temple at Abu Simbel was built during year 24 of Ramesses the Great’s reign, after a twenty-year construction period (around 1279–13 BC). It was dedicated to the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, and Ramees himself, who were deified. It is known as the greatest and most beautiful of the temples built during Ramesses II’s reign.
• The building of the temple was part of Ramesses II’s extensive infrastructure program throughout Egypt and Nubia. The complex was composed of the Great Temple dedicated to the gods and the Small Temple for his queen, Nefertari. 

STRUCTURE: ABU SIMBEL TEMPLES

• At the entrance are four seated Pharaoh statues, each measuring 69 feet tall. Apart from the colossi’s legs, there are other statues no taller than the pharaoh’s knees. These include his wife Nefertari, the pharaoh’s mother Mut-Tuy, his first two sons, Amun-her-khepeshef and Ramesses, as well as his first six daughters, Baketmut, Bintanath, Isetnofret, Meritamen, Nebettawy, and Nefertari.
• The temple’s interior features the same triangular layout as other ancient Egyptian temples, with rooms becoming smaller as you get closer to the sanctuary. The temple’s structure is intricate, and its numerous side chambers make it unique. The hypostyle hall (also known as the pronaos) measures 59 feet long by 54.8 feet wide. It is supported by eight massive Osiris pillars that portray the deified Ramesses linked to the god Osiris, the god of the Underworld, to symbolize the pharaoh’s eternal nature.
• Battle scenes from the ruler’s military campaigns are shown in bas-reliefs on the pronaos’ walls. The Battle of Kadesh, which took place on the Orontes River in modern-day Syria in which the Egyptian king fought the Hittites, receives a lot of attention. The most renowned relief depicts the king riding atop his chariot, shooting arrows at fleeing adversaries who are being apprehended. Other scenes depict Egyptian conquests in Libya and Nubia.

FUNCTIONS

• The primary objective of construction was to commemorate Ramesses II’s victory against the Hittites at Kadesh. The temple was dedicated to several ancient Egyptian gods, including Ra-Horakhty, Ptah, and Amun, as well as Ramesses himself, who was deified.
• These colossi had multiple functions. People might worship them directly, either as intercessors for the gods or as gods in their own right. In addition, Ramesses II is appeals directly to the people of Egypt to recognize his divine authority.
• Reliefs inside the temple depict Hapi, god of the Nile, as he performs the ‘sema-tawy’, the symbolic union of the two lands, by tying the lotus of Upper Egypt and the papyrus of Lower Egypt around the hieroglyph to unite them on the side of the thrones on which the colossi sit. Secondly, Ramesses II was demonstrating to both the gods and the people that he was fulfilling his divine mandate of kingship by uniting Upper and Lower Egypt. Ramesses II emphasized his role as a link between the heavenly and the mundane, the second phase of Egyptian unification, because Egypt has always had dualism. In many ways, this was a straightforward portrayal of Egyptian sympathetic magic. 

DEVELOPMENTS: RELOCATION

• Abu Simbel survived ancient times, but these temples had to be relocated to avoid destruction when rising Nile waters from the nearby Aswan High Dam threatened to destroy thousands of years of history.
• The Egyptian authorities sought help from UNESCO in 1959. Thankfully, the global network became aware of its historical significance. 
• The Nubia area has several archeological monuments. In 1960, a global fund-elevating marketing campaign was initiated. Egypt staged a traveling show of several artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb to drum up support for the campaign. The exhibition was successful, and the funds raised have been used to help fund not only the Abu Simbel project but also some of the future UNESCO projects.
• The temples were carved into the sides of cliffs. It was decided to move them by breaking up the rocks into manageable parts, moving them to higher ground, and reassembling them. Each of the blocks weighed between 20 and 30 tons. After being cut, each block was coated to prevent splitting and fracturing during transport.
• It was Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, a Swiss researcher who found the top frieze of the Great Temple in 1813. In 1817, Giovanni Belzoni, an Italian explorer successfully entered the complex in 1817. 
• The new location was about 200 meters inland and 65 meters higher. Before reassembling the temples, a 330,000-cubic-meter artificial hill was built to resemble the natural stony hill against which the temples stood at the original site. 
• The blocks were then meticulously reassembled, reinforced with reinforcement bars, and the joints filled with artificial material. The temple’s original orientation to the cardinal directions was kept so that the sun’s rays could still enter the sanctuary and light up the sculptures on the back wall at certain times in the spring and fall when the sun was low in the sky.
• Northeast of the temple of Ramesses was the Small Temple dedicated to Nefertari and goddess Hathor. The temple was the second massive building dedicated to a queen. Akhenaten built a temple to honor his wife Nefertiti. 
• Unlike other monuments throughout Egypt, the statues of the queen were constructed the same size as that of Ramesses II.
• The rule of Ramesses II was characterized by the massive building of pyramids and temples from the Delta to Nubia. Aside from building new stoneworks, Ramesses also oversaw the remodeling of existing works to reinforce his power and divinity. His cartouches and statues were often placed in the temples his predecessors built. 
• After the pyramid of Giza, Abu Simbel is the most visited historical site in Egypt.  
• In addition to the Abu Simbel temples, the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae was also saved from the rising waters of the Nile River between 1960 and 1980. 

Abu Simbel Temples Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about the Abu Simbel Temples across 45 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets are perfect for teaching students about the Abu Simbel Temples which is an ancient Egyptian temple complex carved into the face of a solid rock cliff.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

Part I

• Abu Simbel Temples Facts
• Shade Me!
• Try to Recall
• Draw Me
• Historic Sites
• Label Me!
• Marvelous Ancient World
• Analyze the Facts
• Connect the Lines
• Be an Architect
• About Ramesses II

Part II

• Abu Simbel Facts
• Ancient Wonder
• It Is He
• Must-Know Facts
• Questioning Part
• Ancient Egyptian Architecture
• Pharaoh Project
• Construction Details
• Tell Me More
• Mummified
• When in Abu Simbel

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the temple of Abu Simbel used for?

Ramses designed the Temple at Abu Simbel to make people who saw it feel scared and to tell everyone that he was a god.

Why is it named Abu Simbel?

The complex now known as “Abu Simbel” was unnamed until Swiss explorer Burckhardt met a young boy of the same name who showed him the site in 1813 CE.

What happened at Abu Simbel?

To save the temples from being submerged in water, they were relocated to a higher spot 64 meters above and 180 meters west of their original site. It was no easy task. It took years of work to completely dismantle and move the temples.

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