6K foreign tourists visited Abu Simbel Temple to attend Sun alignment on King Ramses II

CAIRO – 22 February 2022: Festivities took place in front of Abu Simbel Temple on Tuesday as part of the celebrations ahead of the sun alignment on King Ramses II, which witnessed this year a huge turnout by foreign tourists amounting to 6,000, in addition to Egyptian visitors. 

Over three thousand years ago, ancient Egyptians constructed the Great Temple of Abu Simbel aligning it so that the sun would shine on the statue of King Ramesses II on the same date every year in celebration of his coronation day.

Abu Simbel temple is the largest temple carved in rocks in the world. It was carved in a rock piece on the west bank of the Nile in a place of great beauty, to worship the sun.

The phenomenon of solar alignment on the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Ramses II in Abu Simbel occurs twice every year on February 22 and October 22, as the sun's rays penetrate the front corridor of the entrance to the Temple of Ramses II with a length of 200 meters until it reaches the Holy of Holies.

The Holy of Holies consists of a platform that includes the statue of King Ramses II, sitting next to it the statue of the god Ra-Hor, his sister, the god Amun and the statue of the god Ptah.

The sun does not light up the face of Ptah, considered by the ancient Egyptians as the god of darkness.