Temple of Wadi El Sebou
Wadi El Sebou Temple located about 150 kilometers south of the Aswan Dam, part of ancient Nubia on the western bank of the Nile. This temple was moved several kilometers away in the 1960s. Built at the behest of Pharaoh Ramesses II, it is considered the second largest of all the temples in ancient Nubia.
The name in Arabic means “Valley of the Lions”, referring to the avenue of the sphinxes leading to the temple, which was built during the reign of Ramesses II. Although this was only moved from its place of origin in the 1960s, it was soon abandoned and forgotten.
Over time it became a tourist attraction again in the 1990s when cruises began to cross Lake Nasser when it was partially covered in sand. The deliberately “scruffy” effect, combined with the desolation of the place, was created to give visitors the feeling that their visit was a sort of first discovery. The work is partially built with blocks of stone, while the inner sanctuary was created by working the rocky substratum.
The original front part of the temple has not survived, but the second one leads to a courtyard decorated with the statues of Ramesses II and III, which reveals a second inner courtyard resting on columns decorated with the remains of the images of Ramesses and Osiris.
The hypostyle room and the inner sanctuary that follow these courts were dug into the bed of rock. Near Wadi el Sebua is the Temple of Dakka, built in the Ptolemaic period in the 3rd century BC.
This site is of great interest because of the huge pylon whose state of preservation is still excellent. You can climb to its top to admire the wonderful view where the lake meets the desert.