Abu Simbel CCER Virtual Tour

An interactive tour of the great sun temple

The great sun temple of Abu Simbel is a fitting monument to the megalomania of Ramses II. The Pharaoh had four gigantic statues of himself hewn from the mountainside to watch over belligerent Nubia. He had the sanctuary of the temple orientated so that twice a year(22 February and 22 October - his birthday and coronation) the sun's morning rays penetrated the mountain, illuminating the statues of the gods(Ramses still manages to overshadow Re-Herakhte, the sun god, from whom the temple takes its name).

Things, however, aren't as they first appear. Abu Simbel has moved. As Lake Nasser rose with the building of the Aswan Dam in the mid 1960s, UNESCO realised the temple would be submerged. It was sawn into over 1,000 blocks(weighing up to 30 tons each) and reassembled(fronting an artificial mountain) 210m behind the original site. It took four years and cost $42 million.

Abu Simbel isn't an easy place to get to(by air is the best bet) so, if time is of the essence, the Centre for Computer Aided Egyptological Research provides the next best thing - an interactive virtual tour with detailed photos, plans and digestible amounts of history.

www.ccer.nl

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