Queen Nefertari

Next to the right leg of this colossi of Pharaoh Ramesses ll is a smaller statue of his best loved, and best known wife, Queen Nefertari.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Queen Nefertari

Ramesses ll's Royal Family

There are statues of other members of the royal family around Ramesses ll's legs including, his daughters Bintanat and Merit Amun, Tuya his mother and his son Amun Her Khepeshef.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Ramesses II

Pharaoh Ramesses II was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty. Ramesses II is regarded by many to have been the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of all time. For this reason he is often referred to by Egyptologists as Ramesses the Great.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Pharaoh Ramesses II Colossi

This magnificent Colossi located at Abu Simbel was carved out of solid sandstone by highly skilled artisans by hand over three thousand years ago.

Should you ever be fortunate enough to find yourself in Abu Simbel try and see this Colossi for yourself, as only then will you truly appreciate the beauty and quality of the ancient Egyptian artisans work

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Prisoners Representing Defeated Nations

Just before the entrance to the Great Temple of Ramesses II, there are carvings of prisoners representing defeated nations on the base of the seats either side of the entrance. To the left are Africans as depicted here, and to the right of the entrance are Asians. These events and rituals were obviously highly important to the temples builders and designers.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

The Nile Gods

Above the carvings of prisoners in the picture above are representations of Nile gods symbolically uniting Egypt as shown to the right.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Abu Simbel

This magnificent relief was carved out of solid sandstone by highly skilled artisans by hand thousands of years ago, it depicts events and rituals that were deemed highly important by the ancient Egyptian builders and designers. The top right section depicts Ramesses holding his Asian enemies by their hair while he is preparing to slay them, with the god Amun offering him a weapon. The top left section depicts the god Amun holding the Africans by the hair and preparing to slay them with Ramesses offering the god Amun a weapon.

Some of what is happening in the lower part of these reliefs is unclear at this time, but as archaeologists unlock more and more of the forgotten secrets of ancient Egypt our understanding will steadily increase.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

The Temple of Hathor and Nefertari

On each side of the entrance to the temple of Hathor is a deified statue of Nefertari , shown as Hathor with the horns of the sacred cow, flanked by statues of Ramesses ll. The statues show Nefertari at the same height as Ramesses ll, which was very unusual, particularly on the facade of a temple. Like the Great Temple of Ramesses II, the Temple of Hathor and Nefertari had to be moved to higher ground between 1964 and 1968 due to the creation of a dam which would otherwise have left the Temple submerged under Lake Nasser.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

The temple of Hathor and Nefertari

This picture is only two dimensional, should you ever be fortunate enough to find yourself in Abu Simbel try and see this relief for yourself, only then will you truly appreciate the beauty and quality of the ancient Egyptian artisans work.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

Temple of Hathor and Nefertari Hieroglyphs

The exact meaning of the hieroglyphs between the carvings of Hathor and Nefertari are unclear. As archaeologists unlock more and more of the forgotten secrets of ancient Egypt the understanding of these hieroglyphs will increase.

Ancient Egyptian Picture Gallery Index

The photographs in this section are all copyright © Paul Drake 2014, Paul has allowed us to publish his pictures for your use in all educational work provided they are not used online or commercially, if you wish to only use them in a written educational project no further permission is required from Siteseen Ltd. or the copyright holder Paul Drake.