ENGLISH SCHOOL, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY

Footnote

Carved out of the mountain on the banks of the Nile between 1274-1244 BC, the Great Temple at Abu Simbel was dedicated as much to Ramesses II himself as to the three Egyptian deities that it was intended to honour.  Considered one of the grandest and most beautiful temples commissioned by the Pharaoh, the four colossal twenty metre-high statues represent the deified Ramesses II himself, and were a display of his overwhelming power. 

Lost to the sands of time, the Temple was rediscovered in 1813 by Jean-Louis Burckhardt and gradually excavated, with Giovanni Belzoni reaching the interior in 1817. The smaller statues depict the Pharaoh's mother Queen Tuya, and his wife Nefertari as well as his children. The present work can be dated to between 1888 and 1917. based on the level of stonework exposed, and the partial covering of the colossal statue, far right.