Model of Abu Simbel, a massive rock-cut temple in the village of Abu Simbel, Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the 'Nubian Monuments', which run from Abu Simbel down river to Philae (near Aswan), and include Amada, Wadi es-Sebua, and other Nubian sites. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th Dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king Ramesses II.