Ramses built seven temples in Nubia along a 390 kilometre stretch of the Nile. A model of two temples is on display in the exhibition and shows their relative positions on the cliff face on the edge of the river Nile. The temples were built only 100m apart and the axis of the temple has been positioned so that twice a year the sun shines through the entrance opening and illuminates statues placed on the back wall of the interior.
The two temples at Abu Simbel depicted in the model are carved from imposing east-facing red sandstone cliffs. Ramses named the larger of the two the Great Temple, or ‘The House of Ramses, Beloved of Amun’. A smaller temple was dedicated to Hathor, the goddess of fertility, and to the living manifestation of Hathor, his beloved wife Nefertari.
The Great Temple shown in the model was built between 1264BCE and 1244BCE and has a single entrance flanked by four colossal statues, two on each side, representing Ramses seated on a throne. Each statue depicted in the model is in fact 20m high, and there are many smaller statues, none taller than Ramses’ knee, representing various members of his family. At the back of the model of the mountain is a plan showing the inside of the temple where the rooms have been cut out of the rock.
The Small Temple depicted in the model was built 100m NE of the Temple of Ramses and its façade is decorated with two groups of colossi separated by a large gateway. These statues are in reality 10m high and represent Ramses and his wife Nefertari. Nefertari is represented as being equal in height to Ramses, which was unusual in representations of kings and queens in Ancient Egypt. Smaller statues of family members are placed near the entrance and the interior plan of the small temple is seen on the back of the model and is a simplified version of the Great Temple.
The text displayed with the model reveals that the temples were in danger of being flooded when the Aswan Dam was being built so a massive relocation of the two temples took place. Between 1964 and 1968 both temples were cut up into large blocks and relocated and reassembled 65m higher and 200m back from their original position.