Egypt Daily News – Today, the sun aligned its rays on the face of King Ramses II began in the sanctuary of his great temple in the tourist city of Abu Simbel. This unique astronomical event, masterfully embodied by the ancient Egyptians through engineering design, construction, and astronomical calculations, has occurred for thousands of years and takes place only twice a year—on February 22 and October 22.
The courtyard of Abu Simbel Temple in southern Egypt witnessed a large gathering of foreign tourists from around the world, along with Egyptian visitors, eager to enter the temple and reach the sanctuary platform to observe the solar alignment phenomenon.
The Abu Simbel Antiquities area, led by Dr. Ahmed Massoud and supervised by archaeologist Fahmy Mahmoud El-Amin, Director General of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman Antiquities in Aswan, coordinated with the Abu Simbel Tourism and Antiquities Police to facilitate tourist entry. They organized passageways to ease access and prevent overcrowding while providing golf carts to assist elderly visitors and people with special needs.
The Abu Simbel Temple in southern Egypt witnessed a large influx of tourists and Egyptian visitors eager to observe the solar alignment phenomenon on the face of Ramses in the sanctuary of his great temple. This unique astronomical event, meticulously calculated by the ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago, occurs only twice a year—on February 22 and October 22.
The solar alignment phenomenon at Abu Simbel is a relatively recent discovery for archaeologists, though it was precisely designed by the ancient Egyptians. It happens on two significant dates, February 22 and October 22, which are believed to be linked to the agricultural and harvest seasons or may mark the king’s birthday and coronation.
The event begins at sunrise on February 22 and lasts for only 20 minutes. The sun’s rays travel from above Lake Nasser, penetrating the temple’s entrance and passing through its 60-meter-long inner corridor until they reach the sanctuary. There, the sunlight illuminates the face of King Ramses II and three of the four seated statues. The only exception is the statue of Ptah, the god of the underworld and darkness, who remains in shadow, as the ancient Egyptians believed it was illogical for sunlight to reach the god of the afterlife.
The temple contains four deities: from left to right—Ptah, god of the underworld and Memphis; Amun-Ra, the main state deity whose worship centered in Thebes; Ra-Horakhty, the sun god of Heliopolis; and Ramses II, who was deified. The sun aligns with the three deities except Ptah, a deliberate design choice reflecting ancient Egyptian beliefs.
The phenomenon was first recorded in the winter of 1874 by British writer Amelia Edwards and her team. She observed how the sun’s rays entered the temple on two specific days, extending deep into the sanctuary. She later documented her findings in her 1899 book, A Thousand Miles Up the Nile.
