This drawing shows the right leg and both feet of the third colossal statue of Rameses II. The Smaller figure flanking the fourth statue, partially buried in the sand, is that of the Queen Mother, Tea.

One of the most famous of all Egyptian temples, Abu Simbel faced destruction by rising water in the early 1960s, a result of the new Aswan dam. In an engineering feat, the temple was cut from the hillside into which it was carved and moved to safety.