Abu Simbel Sun-Alignment Festival

The Abu Simbel Sun Festival is a remarkable 3,000-year-old bi-annual event in southern Egypt, celebrating an incredible feat of ancient engineering at the Temple of Ramses II. It is a precise solar phenomenon where the rising sun’s rays travel over sixty meters into the temple every February 22nd and October 22nd, dates believed to mark the pharaoh’s coronation and birthday. This grand ceremony illuminates the statues of the pharaoh and two major deities, serving as both a formal display of his divine status and a public marvel of ancient Egyptian design.

The celebration is centered on the Great Temple of Ramses. The day begins before dawn as crowds gather in the Temple Plaza to await the sunrise. The main attraction occurs moments after dawn, when sunlight penetrates the long corridor, illuminating Ramses II, the god of the air Amun, and the sun god Ra in the Inner Sanctuary. Crucially, Ptah, the god of darkness, remains untouched by the light.

After this dramatic solar event, the Plaza comes alive with lively traditional Nubian music and dance performances for the rest of the morning.