The great Temple of Ramses II was originally a brightly colored monument carved into a sandstone mountain to honor Ramses II, an Egyptian pharaoh who ruled for more than 60 years. But with the passage of time and the erosive power of the Nile River, the temple wore away and was forgotten for thousands of years. It was rediscovered in 1811 when parts of the temple’s carved figures were exposed out of the sand.

The temple has since been restored and relocated to a safer location roughly 60 m from its original spot. Four statues of Ramses II dominate the entrance to the temple. The pharaoh is seated calmly with his hands on his thighs and a faint smile stretching across his lips. Each statue is more than 20 m tall and 4 m wide. Experts think the Egyptians believed that sandstone mounds in the desert were the way the gods entered the earth, making a mountain the ideal place to build a temple.

Written by  Jordan-Ashley Baker.

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