Decipher Egyptian Gods Through Pictures (Part 1): Abu Simbel

👁 Wait, Who Are the Tiny People by the Legs?

On the left of the first colossus you’ll find Nefertari (his favourite wife) and Mut-Tuy (his mom). Beside the second colossus, some of his sons. They look small not because Ramesses was being rude, but because this is just how Egyptian art works — you scaled figures by importance.

🎯 Trivia Worth Knowing

See the second colossus from the left? The top half — torso and head — is missing. It fell during an earthquake, probably around 27 BCE. When engineers moved the temples in the 1960s, they made a conscious decision NOT to put it back together. The pieces still sit right where they landed, at the statue’s feet, exactly where they’ve been for over 2,000 years.

👁 The “Real” Boss

Above the central doorway, tucked into a niche between the second and third colossi, sits a god wearing a solar disc crown. That’s Ra-Horakhty — the falcon-headed sun god. Ramesses made himself four times bigger than the sun god, which tells you a lot about his ego!

✍️ The “Age” Progression

If you look closely at the faces from left to right, you can see Ramesses “age.”, or can you? Academics say that all four were commissioned as a set to celebrate his 30-year jubilee, when he was 45 years old. Legend says that he went from a young man in his 20s all the way to his 70s. Who do you believe?

🎯 Vultures in the Sky

Look up at the ceiling! You can see beautiful paintings of Nekhbet, the vulture goddess, with her wings spread wide across the entire length of the hall. She is holding symbols of protection to keep the temple safe.

🎯 Double Crown vs White Crown

The four statues on the left wear the Double Crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, while the four on the right wear the White Crown of Upper Egypt. This was a visual way to show the King ruled every single inch of the Nile.

✍️ The Light Show

Notice how the sun streams through the entrance. During the twice-yearly Solar Alignment, this light shoots perfectly down the center of this hall to reach the secret sanctuary 200 feet in the back.

✍️ What does “Hypostyle” actually mean?

The word comes from the Ancient Greek hypóstylos, which literally means “under columns” (hypo = under; stylos = column). In architecture, it refers to a large hall where the roof is supported by rows of columns.

🎯 The Sun Laser

Notice Amun-Ra and Ra-Horakhty. They are both forms of the supreme sun god. This temple is specifically aligned so that on two days a year (historically, the king’s birthday and coronation), the sun’s rays shine directly into this back room, illuminating the two sun gods and the King Ramesses II, the deified king.

🎯 Trivia Worth Knowing

When the temples were reassembled in 1968, engineers tried to recreate the solar alignment exactly. They almost got it right. The alignment now happens one day later than originally intended — October 23 and February 23 instead of October 22 and February 22. Whether this was an unavoidable consequence of the relocation or a minor positioning error is still occasionally debated among archaeologists and engineers.

✍️ The God of Shadows

During the “Sun Laser” show, the light hits three of the statues but leaves Ptah (the guy on the far left) in the dark. That’s because he’s the God of the Underworld—he likes the dark!

👁 The King Who Unites the Gods

This grouping is a masterstroke of religious politics. It unites the chief deities of Egypt’s major religious centers (Memphis and Thebes) and places Ramesses right between them.

👁 The Bull’s Tail

Look at the back of the King’s skirt. Do you see the little tail hanging down? This is a Bull’s Tail, a symbol of strength and power that Pharaohs wore for thousands of years.

☥ The Divine High-Five

Look at the falcon headed god Amun-Ra stands just out of frame on the right side, handing the King the “Sword of Victory.” It’s the ancient version of a divine seal of approval for the King’s military might.

👁 The Falcon’s Protection

Look above the King’s head for a winged sun disc and a vulture spreading its wings. This is a protective deity ensuring that no harm comes to the Pharaoh during the fight.

👑 The “Mini-Me” Army: The Royal Princes

At first glance, the row of soldiers carved beneath the King and his captives look like standard infantry. But they are actually the Princes of Egypt—the sons of Ramesses II. He famously had over 50 sons (and roughly as many daughters), and he used the walls of his temples as a permanent family tree.

They are usually shown with the “Sidelock of Youth” (a braid on one side of the head), and wearing the military uniforms of high-ranking officers.

👁 The Scepter of Power

Ra-Horakhty holds a Was scepter, a symbol of power and dominion, emphasizing his status as a supreme ruler of the cosmos.

☥ The Double Crown

The Pharaoh wears the Pschent, or Double Crown, which symbolizes his unified rule over both Upper and Lower Egypt.

👁 The Cartouches and The Ankhs

Positioned between the two figures are royal cartouches. These oval frames enclose the hieroglyphic names of Ramesses II, acting as a permanent signature of his identity and his relationship with the god.

Several Ankh symbols (☥) are visible in the surrounding hieroglyphs, representing the “breath of life” bestowed by the gods upon the King.

🎯 Sunk Relief Technique

This carving is a prime example of sunk relief, where the outlines are cut deep into the sandstone. This technique was favored for its ability to create sharp, readable shadows in the dim light of the temple’s interior chambers.

👁 The “Invisible” Passenger

Even though you see a big shrine on the boat, you can’t see the god himself. The figure inside is Amun-Ra. His name literally means “The Hidden One,” and his actual statue was so holy that only the King and the High Priest were allowed to look at it. The front (prow) and the back (stern) of the boat is decorated with ram heads? The ram was the sacred animal of Amun-Ra. It’s like a divine “hood ornament” that tells the crowd exactly which VIP is traveling.

✍️ The Priest “Engine”

Look at the row of men underneath the boat. These are the priests carrying the heavy wooden bark on their shoulders. If you look at their heads, you’ll notice they are shaved bald—a requirement for temple priests to stay “ritually pure” while handling the god’s transport.

👑 The Divine Boat

In Egypt, the Nile was the only way to travel, so the people believed the gods traveled by boat, too—even through the sky! These barks were often covered in gold and jewels to reflect the sun.

Look at the spaces around the boat. You’ll see the cartouches of Ramesses II again. By putting his name all over this religious parade, he was reminding everyone that he was the one making sure the gods were happy and the festivals kept running.

🎯 Trivia Worth Knowing

During these festivals, people would actually stand in the crowd and shout questions at the boat! If the boat tipped forward, it was a “Yes”; if it tipped back, it was a “No.” It was called an Oracle, and it was how regular people got “direct” advice from Amun-Ra.

👁 Wait, Who Actually Was Nefertari?

Nefertari (c. 1295–1255 BCE) was Ramesses’ chief wife and by far the most celebrated. He had at least eight wives — he was not a man who operated on a small scale — but Nefertari is the one who got the temple, the poetry, and a tomb in the Valley of the Queens that is still considered the finest painted tomb in all of Egypt. She died sometime around Year 25 of his reign. Ramesses outlived her by roughly 40 years.

✍️ The Deity Connection

In Egyptian theology, Queen Nefertari is associated with Hathor. Hathor is a multifaceted goddess. She is shown here in human form, but adorned with her specific identifying symbols: large cow horns encircling a solar disc. In other reliefs inside, she appears as a sacred cow emerging from the mountain.

Just as Ramesses II identified himself with the powerful sun god Ra-Horakhty, Nefertari identified herself with the loving, maternal, and musical goddess Hathor. By honoring his wife as Hathor, Ramesses balances the aggressive solar power of his Great Temple with the protective and nourishing energy of the Small Temple.

🎯 Trivia Worth Knowing

The two most famous women in ancient Egyptian history are Nefertari and Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut was the female pharaoh who ruled Egypt in her own right for over 20 years. Nefertari never ruled — her fame comes entirely from being loved by a pharaoh who was very good at making things last. Both are extraordinary. The reasons are completely different.

👑 Nefertari Is Not Nefertiti

It’s an easy mistake—both names start with “Nefert-,” both lived in ancient Egypt, and both were legendary queens. But they were not the same person. Nefertari was the beloved wife of Ramesses II and most romantically praised though The Small Temple of Abu Simbel and one of the most beautiful tombs in the Valley of the Queens. Queens Nefertiti was the famous queen of Akhenaten, the pharaoh who tried to revolutionize Egyptian religion, who lived about 200 years earlier is often called the most beautiful woman of ancient Egypt. Her most famous “monument,” ironically, is not a temple at all — it’s the stunning Bust of Nefertiti, now displayed in the Neues Museum in Berlin.

If you mix them up in Egypt, don’t worry—you’re in good company. Even some tour guides occasionally do it… usually right before someone quietly Googles it. 

👁 How to Tell Who is Isis and Who is Hathor

The goddess on the far left is Isis, the Mother Goddess. You can tell it is her by the throne symbol sitting on top of her head. As the mother of Horus, her presence here means the royal family is under her direct protection. The goddess on the right is Hathor, the Goddess of Joy. She is wearing her signature cow horns with a solar disc in the middle. Because this temple is dedicated to her, she appears frequently to show that Nefertari is her earthly representative.

☥ The Ankh (Key of Life)

Look at what each figure is holding in their lower hand. That loop-shaped cross is an Ankh, the symbol for “Life”. The goddesses are literally bringing life-force to the Queen.

🎯 Technical Precision

Notice how deep the carvings are. Even after 3,200 years, the lines are crisp and clear. This is “New Kingdom” art at its peak—where the translucent fabrics of their dresses are suggested by just a few delicate lines in the stone.

👑 The Two-pronged Headdress Atop Nefertari

The two-pronged headdress you see atop Nefertari in that relief is actually a combination of two very important symbols: Cow Horns and a Solar Disc. In the world of ancient Egyptian “emojis,” this was the ultimate visual ID.

The Cow Horns represent the goddess Hathor. By wearing these horns, Nefertari isn’t just “dressed up”—the carvings are telling the viewer that the Queen is the living, breathing version of Hathor on Earth.

The circle sitting right in the middle of those horns is the Sun Disc. This represents the god Ra (the Sun). Placing it inside the horns shows the connection between the female power of the goddess and the life-giving power of the sun.

✍️ The “Boat” of the Heavens

Notice the cow is standing on a curved boat. In Ancient Egypt, the sky was seen as a vast ocean of water. The gods didn’t walk through the clouds; they sailed through the stars on “Celestial Barks.”

☥ The Divine Crown and The Seated Gods

Even as a cow, she is still wearing the Horns and Solar Disc crown. This is the “ID tag” we learned about earlier—it’s how you can tell this is a goddess and not just a regular cow.

On the left wall, you can see seated figures with their hands raised in a gesture of “Adoration.” They are welcoming the goddess as she arrives on her boat.

🎯 The Papyrus Marsh

Look at the tall, fan-shaped plants behind the cow. Those are Papyrus stalks. This scene represents the “Marshes of the Delta,” where Egyptian mythology says the gods were born and hidden. It’s like a stone painting of a secret, sacred garden.

👁 The Cobra

If you look at the very front (or back, depending on your view point) of the boat, there is a tiny Uraeus (rearing cobra). This snake was the “bodyguard” of the gods and the Pharaohs, meant to spit fire at anyone who tried to stop the boat.

🤔 I Know Who Hathor is, but Who is Isis

Isis is the goddess you called when things went wrong. Her story is one of the most dramatic in all of mythology: her husband Osiris was murdered and dismembered by his brother Set, scattered in pieces across Egypt. Isis spent years searching, found every piece, reassembled him, and briefly brought him back to life long enough to conceive their son Horus. She is, in short, a goddess defined by fierce, unbreakable loyalty and the power to overcome death itself. Her crown is literally a throne hieroglyph sitting on her head — she IS the seat of royal power.

🎯 Why are Hathor and Isis Here, in Nefertari’s Temple

Hathor is here because this is essentially her temple. Nefertari and Hathor are so thoroughly merged throughout the Small Temple that the two are almost interchangeable — Nefertari wears Hathor’s crown, holds Hathor’s sistrum, appears in Hathor’s poses. Ramesses built this temple to declare that his wife was the earthly embodiment of Hathor, the goddess of love and beauty. Which, as love letters go, is pretty hard to top.

Isis is here because of what she represents for Nefertari specifically: protection, resurrection, and eternal life. Isis isn’t crashing Hathor’s temple. By placing Isis at this threshold, the temple is saying that Nefertari — like Osiris before her — will be gathered, protected, and brought through death into eternity.

✍️ Dark Streaks And Crack Running Down the Ceiling

See those dark streaks on the ceiling? That’s 3,000-year-old soot from oil lamps and torches burned during Hathor ceremonies. Every smear up there is the fossilized smoke from an ancient party thrown for a goddess.

That crack running down the ceiling is actually a cut joint from 1968 — one of the seams where engineers sawed the ceiling into blocks to move the entire temple 65 metres uphill before Lake Nasser flooded this site. So in one photo: 3,200-year-old carvings, 3,000-year-old party soot, and 1960s engineering. Egypt really does contain everything.

👁 Hathoric Columns

Noticed the pillars with a serene human face with cow ears on the sides, topped with Hathor’s double-feather and sun disk crown? The face appears on all four sides of each pillar, so wherever you’re standing in the hall, Hathor is looking at you. There’s no angle where you escape her gaze. Whether that’s comforting or slightly unsettling probably depends on how your day is going.

Hathoric columns appear in only a handful of temples across all of Egypt — Dendera (Hathor’s main cult temple), Philae, and here at Abu Simbel’s Small Temple.