Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples: A New Traveler's Companion

Nigel Fletcher-Jones

 The three-thousand-year-old rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel and the story of their rescue from the rising waters of Lake Nasser in the 1960s are almost as familiar worldwide as the tale of the gold funerary mask and brief life of the boy king Tutankhamun. Yet the lower Nubian temples, from Philae in the north to Abu Simbel in the south, are some of the least understood by the visitor.

In this lucidly written, beautifully illustrated guide, Nigel Fletcher-Jones places the temples in their historical context, telling the story of the discovery of the Abu Simbel temples, and why and how they were moved, explaining what the Nubian temples teach us about ancient Egypt, which gods and goddesses were worshiped there, and the place of Rameses II in the long line of ancient Egyptian kings and queens.

With over 80 new photographs, diagrams, and maps, and packed with fascinating insights and practical advice, Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples is an ideal travel companion to one of the world's great regions of archaeological splendor.