Question

Answer the following question in 3-4 complete sentences.

An entrance to a tomb. On either side are two large statues of a seated man.
What structure is pictured above? Describe its significance and design.

Answer 1

This is the Great Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel, a rock-cut New Kingdom temple carved into a Nubian cliff in the 13th century BCE. Its facade is dominated by colossal seated statues of Ramesses (two on each side of the entrance) meant to proclaim the pharaoh’s power and divine status, and the interior contains halls, statuary and reliefs dedicated to the gods and the king. The temple is also famous for its solar alignment, when sunlight penetrates the sanctuary twice a year to illuminate the cult statues. In the 1960s the whole complex was dismantled and moved piece-by-piece to higher ground to save it from flooding after the construction of the Aswan High Dam.