Egypt Heritage Sites Gallery

A long exposure picture of the Kokino megalithic observatory is seen during summer

A long exposure picture of the Kokino megalithic observatory is seen during summer solstice celebration in Kumanovo June 21, 2013. The 3,800 years old observatory was discovered in 2001 in the north-western town of Kumanovo 70 km (43 miles) north from capital Skopje and is ranked as the fourth oldest observatory in the world after Egypt's Abu Simbel, Britain's Stonehenge and Cambodia's Angkor Wat according to NASA. REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski (MACEDONIA - Tags: SOCIETY ENVIRONMENT TRAVEL TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Abu Simbel, at the original location, wood engraving, published 1880

Ship traffic on the Nile during the great religious festivals in ancient Egypt. In the background the Abu Simbel temples, built by Ramses II in the 13th century BC, World Heritage Site by Unesco. The temple was demolished from 1963 to 1968 and rebuilt on the plateau of Abu Simbel construction of the Aswan High Dam. The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Woodcut engraving, published in 1880

© ZU_09

The Great temple of Ramesses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt

'The archaeological site of Abu Simbel is composed primarily of two massive rock temples in, these cave temples taken from the side of the mountain from the pharaoh Ramses II in the thirteenth century BC, built to intimidate the neighbors Nubians and to commemorate the victory at the Battle of Kadesh.The archaeological site was discovered March 22, 1813 by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt but almost completely covered in sand, it was breached for the first time on 1 August 1817 by the Italian Giovanni Battista Belzoni.Nel 1979 he was recognized as a World Heritage Site by 'Unesco.'

© Giampaolo Cianella 2015