The Great Temple of Ramses II and the slightly smaller Hathor Temple dedicated to his wife Nefertari, which together form the temple complex of Abu Simbel, are among the most famous and spectacular monuments in Egypt. The imposing main temple of the Abu Simbel complex was carved into the mountain on the west bank of the Nile between 1274 and 1244 BC and was dedicated to the deified Ramses II himself as well as to Re-Harachte, Amun-Re and Ptah. The four colossal statues of the pharaoh in front of the temple look like gigantic sentinels guarding the incoming traffic from the south and are intended as a warning of the pharaoh's strength and might.

The temple complex was originally located in a place where the flooding of the Nasser reservoir would have led to the destruction of the monuments. In a concerted effort, UNESCO financed and directed the dismantling of the temples from 1964 to 1968. They were rebuilt true to the original at a higher point, the current location.

The temple complex of Abu Simbel can be visited from Aswan. The land transfer takes around three and a half hours each way, whereas it only takes around 45 minutes by plane (the airport in Abu Simbel is just a stone's throw away from the temple complex). The most attractive way to visit Abu Simbel is on board of a Lake Nasser cruise ship.