The Temple of Ramses II along with that of Nefertari was threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser due to the construction of the High Dam. During the saving operation, which began in 1964 and continued until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 60 meters up the sandstone cliff where they had been built more than 3,000 years before. Here they were reassembled, in the exact same relationship to each other and the sun, and covered with an artificial mountain.

Most of the joins in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts, but inside the temples it is still possible to see where the blocks were cut.

An exhibition of photographs showing the different stages of the massive removal project.

Abu Simbel was first reported by J. L. Burkhardt in 1813, when he came over the mountain and only saw the facade of the great temple as he was preparing to leave that area via the Nile. The two temples, that of Ramses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burkhardt found them.

Perhaps after the Giza pyramids, or coincident with them, the great temple of Abu Simbel presents the most familiar image of ancient Egypt to the modern traveler and reader. When the conservation efforts to preserve the temple from the soon-to be built High Aswan Dam and its rising waters were begun in the 1960s, images of the colossal statues filled newspapers and books. The temples were dismantled and relocated in 1968 on the desert plateau, 200 feet above and 600 feet west of their original location.

Abu Simbel lies south of Aswan on the western bank of the Nile, 180 miles south of the First Cataract in what was Nubia. The site was known as Mena in ancient times and was first documented in the 18th Dynasty, when Ay and Horemoheb had rock-cut chapels carved in the hills to the south. Ramses II, called "the Great," built seven rock-cut temples in Nubia. The rock-cut Temple of Ramses II on the west bank of the Nile at Abu Simbel is the greatest of these. Europeans did not see this temple until J.J. Burkhardt discovered them in 1813.

The temple, called (Hwt Ramses MeryAmun) the "Temple of Ramses, beloved of Amun," was begun fairly early in Ramses' long reign, specially made some time after his fifth regional year, but not completed until his 35th regnal year. The four-seated colossal statues of Ramses dominate the massive facade of the main temple. These familiar representations are of Ramses II himself. Each statue, 67 feet high, is seated on a throne and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Each is taller than the famed Memnon Huge statue at Thebes, and all are sculpted directly from the rock face. The thrones are decorated on their sides with Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt. Burkhardt said of the first face on the left that it "was the most expressive, youthful countenance, approaching nearer to the Grecian model of beauty than that of any ancient Egyptian figure I have seen". An ancient earthquake damaged the statues. One is demolished from the waist up.

Between the legs and on each of their sides stand smaller statues of members of the royal family. The smaller statues of relatives were probably, for the first southern huge statue: Queen Nefertari by the left leg, the king's mother, the great wife of Seti I, Muttuya by his right leg, and Prince Amenhirkhopshef in front. For the second southern huge statue, Princess Bent'anta stood by the left leg, Princess Nebettawyby the left, and one unnamed female figure, probably that of a minor royal wife named Esenofre.

The family statues at the first northern huge statue were, Queen Nefertari, Princess Beketmut and Prince Ramses in front. For the second northern huge statue, there were Princess MeryAmun, Queen Muttuya and Princess Nefertari. Under these giant sculptures are carved figures of bound captives.

The open space or terrace, which fronted the temple, contained two tanks for the ablutions of the priests. On the northern side of this terrace stood a small sun-chapel, and on the south, stood a chapel of the god Thoth. Above the entrance, a figure of the falcon-headed sun god Ra' is shown worshipped by flanking images of Ramses. The rebus figure of Ra contains the prenomen of Ramses II, or Userma'atre: the falcon headed god Ra has next to his right leg the glyph showing the head and neck of an animal, read User, and the goddess at his left leg is ma'at. At the top of the temple facade is a row of monkey statues in adoring attitudes, said to welcome the rising sun.

A stela at the southern end of the external terrace is called "the Marriage Stela," and is a copy of the record of one of Ramses II's diplomatic triumphs, his marriage to a daughter of the Hittite king Hattusilis III. Within the temple a series of chambers becomes increasingly smaller as the floors of the rooms rise noticeably. This is a basic convention of temple design, as one move into the temple deeper to the sanctuary, which would contain the primeval mound of creation, rising out of the waters of Nun.

The first hall within the temple contains eight large statues of the king as Osiris, four on each side, which also serve as pillars to support the roof. The walls are decorated in relief with scenes showing the king in battle, including the great battle of Kadesh on the north, and Syrian, Libyan and Nubian wars on the south wall, and also presenting prisoners to the gods. On the north entrance wall in this Hypostyle hall a scene shows Ramses in the presence of Amun, to whom the king appealed during his battle at Kadesh against the Hittites.

Behind the first hall is a second smaller hall with ritual offering scenes. Here in one scene both Ramses and Nefertari are depicted before the sacred barque of Amun, and in another, before the sacred barque of Ra-Horakhaty. Three doors lead from here into a entrance hall, and then one reaches the sanctuary(place of safety). The sanctuary contains a small altar and in its back place are four statues. These religious group images represent Ramses II himself, and the three state gods of the New Kingdom, Ra-Horakhaty of Heliopolis, Ptah of Memphis and Amun-Ra' of Thebes. Before the statues rests a block upon which would have rested the sacred barque itself. The axis of the temple is arranged so that on two days of the year, in February and October, the rising sun shoots its rays through the entrance and halls until it finally illuminates the sanctuary statues.

To the north of the main temple a smaller temple was built in honor of Ramses great wife, Nefertari, and the goddess Hathor. This temple should not be confused with the beautiful Tomb to Nefertari in the Valley of Queens near Thebes. As with Ramses' own temple, the Rock face was cut back to resemble sloping walls of a pylon. Six huge standing figures 33 feet high four of Ramses and two of Nefertari, were cut from the rock face, along with smaller figures of the royal family. An inscription over the entrance reads "Ramses II, he has made a temple, excavated in the mountain, of eternal workmanship, for the chief queen Nefertari, beloved of Mu, in Nubia, forever and ever, Nefertari for whose sake the very sun does shine."

Inside, Nefertari temple has a single pillared hall, with carved Hathor heads atop the pillars. On the sides facing the center of the hypostyle; Ramses is shown smiting his enemies and offering before various gods, while Nefertari is shown, graceful and slender, with hands raised. Three doors lead to a entrance hall with additional rooms at either end. The sanctuary is complete, though two spaces were left on its sidewalls for doors to rooms, which were never cut. The inner chamber contains a number of images interrelating the royal couple and the gods. On the rear wall, Hathor is depicted in high relief as a cow emerging from the western mountain, with the king standing under her chin. Nefertari is shown repeatedly participating in the divine rituals on an equal footing with the king. On the left wall, Nefertari is seen worshipping before Mut and Hathor, and on the right, Ramses worships before images of his deified self and his wife.