A world renowned archaeological site composed of two massive temples made of pure rock, Abu Simbel is located in Nubia, southern Egypt on the west Lake Nasser banks approximately 290 kilometers of Aswan. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and is better known as the ‘Nubian Mountains.’ Abu Simbel was carved out of the humongous mountainside in the time of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the thirteenth century as a monument to himself and Nefertari, his queen. This was intended to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Kadesh as well as to intimidate the Nubians.

In 1960 however, the entire structure was transferred on a dome structure which looked like an artificial hill above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. This transfer was quite necessary to avoid the monuments being submerged when Lake Nasser was created. Lake Nasser is a massive artificial reservoir for water created after the construction of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. Abu Simbel remains one of Egypt’s top tourist attractions to this day.