Abu Simbel Sun Festival Event - October 2025

It is a bi-annual huge celebration in Abu Simbel at the great temple of king Ramesses II in the south of Egypt. Here is what actually happens twice a year and attracts thousands of tourists who come from all around the world to witness this memorable festival. The central chamber of king Ramses II is illuminated twice a year by the sun for a short period of time when light is cast upon the seated statue of the pharaoh Ramesses II, the sun god "Ra", the king of gods "Amon" except for "Ptah" who is connected to the darkness and still remains in shadow. Surprisingly this event has been taking place for over 3200 years.

Ramses the Great built the amazing temple in Ramesses and wanted it to be a truly special one, so he chose two special dates to him and let them be the dates of the wonderful Sun Festival celebration in Abu Simbel. The first date is February 22nd, which is the date of Ramesses II ascension to the throne of Egypt. The second date is October 22nd, which was the date of the king’s birth. The inner sanctums are aligned only twice a year during this festival and stay in darkness the rest of the year and that is why it gained its fame. Although this temple was relocated in 1960 with the help of the UNESCO as it was threatened by the High Aswan Dam, they did their best to keep the same measurements and to preserve the festival that happens twice there through paying millions of dollars but it is really worth much more than this.

Ramesses II decided to build two great temples in Abu Simbel for two reasons. He established his great temple to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Kadesh, celebrate his birthday, and to commemorate the date of his ascension to the throne. On the other hand, he constructed the smaller Temple of Abu Simbel to show his deep affection to his wife Nefertari.

King Ramesses II traveled with his beloved wife Nefertari in 1255 BC to Nubia to inaugurate the great Abu Simbel Temple. This impressive temple was discovered by the Swiss traveler Johann Burckhardt in 1813. There was an enormous pile of sand that almost covered the facade and its colossal statues, blocking the entrance. The explorer Giovanni was the one who reached the interior part of the temple in 1817.

The two temples of Abu Simbel, the great temple & the smaller ones were built by the amazing king Ramesses II between 1290 and 1224 BC and we can consider it a display of pure egotism by one of Ancient Egypt’s most powerful rulers.

King Ramesses II was born in 1303 BC, and he died in 1213 BC. He ruled Egypt as a great pharaoh from 1279 until 1213. He was actually the 3rd pharaoh of the 19th dynasty and he was known as Ramses the great and is regarded as the greatest and the most powerful pharaoh during the Egypt New Kingdom. The most interesting thing about this king is that he celebrated unprecedented 14th Sed Festivals {an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated a continued rule of the pharaoh} during his reign which was a period more than any other pharaoh.

When he died, he was buried in a tomb inside the Valley of the Kings, and then his body was moved to a royal cache until it was discovered in 1881 and his mummy was taken to the Egyptian Museum where it is now displayed there.

Abu Simbel Temple was cut into a solid rock cliff and was mainly built to commemorate his victory in the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC.

-The Grand Temple of Abu Simbel stands 30m high and 35m long featuring 4 seated colossal of the king and some of the most well-known Egyptian deities.
-The smaller temple is located 100 m (330 ft) far away from the grand temple and it contains 4 huge statues, two of them belong to king Ramesses and the other two belong to his beloved Nefertari.

-The great temple of Abu Simbel represents a rare phenomenon with its solar alignment in its inner part to three of its colossal statues except for the fourth statue of Ptah who used to be the god of darkness and this represents the true magnificence in construction and how the ancient Egyptians were truly brilliant.

-It was saved in 1964 through the co-operation between the Egyptian government and UNESCO as it was in great danger after the construction of Aswan High Dam.

-Abu Simbel Temple took about 20 years to be built and was finally completed in the 24th year of the reign of king Ramesses.

-The Four statues in front of the great Abu Simbel Temple are 20 m tall and they represent the king with the double Atef crown of Upper and Lower Egypt.

-There is a damaged statue on the left of the temple that was destroyed after its construction because of an earthquake and you can find the head and body of the statue in front of it on the floor.

-Next, to the leg of the large statue, there are statues that show his chief wife Nefertari and his mother Mut-Tuy. There are also smaller statues of his first two sons Amun-her-khepeshef & Ramesses, in addition to his first six daughters Bintanath, Baketmut, Nefertari, Meritamen, Nebettawy, and Isetnofret.

-There is a bas-relief above the entrance that shows 2 images of the king praising the falcon-headed Ra Harakhti.