Abu Simbel is located in the Aswan Governorate of southern Egypt, approximately 280 kilometres south of Aswan city and 40 kilometres north of the Sudanese border, on the western shore of Lake Nasser. The two rock-cut temples were originally carved during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE and were relocated in their entirety between 1964 and 1968 as part of a landmark UNESCO and Egyptian government engineering operation to prevent their submersion by the rising waters of Lake Nasser following construction of the Aswan High Dam. The complex is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered one of the most significant monuments of ancient Nubian and Egyptian civilization.

Ancient Egypt, Nubian Heritage, UNESCO World Heritage, Aswan Governorate, Lake Nasser, Rock-Cut Temples, Ramesses II, Southern Egypt