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Secondary sourcePhotograph1875

Abu Simbel Temple Colossi

Pascal Sébah · 1875

An 1875 photograph of the four seated colossal statues of Ramesses II carved into the rock facade of Abu Simbel.

Shows the colossal statues Ramesses II had carved at Abu Simbel to proclaim his power.

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Sepia photograph of the facade of the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt, with four seated colossal statues of Ramesses II carved into the rock. A small standing man at lower left shows scale. A doorway lies between the middle statues, and hieroglyphs are carved across the upper wall.
Pascal Sébah, photograph of Abu Simbel temple colossi, c. 1875. Wellcome Collection, London.

About this source

What it is

This is a photograph taken around 1875 by photographer Pascal Sébah, showing the facade of the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt. Four huge seated statues of Ramesses II are carved directly into the rock. A man stands at the base of the statues to show how enormous they are. The photograph is held by the Wellcome Collection in London.

Why it matters

Abu Simbel was built to show the power of Ramesses II and to impress both Egyptians and neighbouring peoples. By the 1870s, photographers like Sébah were documenting ancient Egyptian monuments for travellers and scholars, helping spread images of pharaonic Egypt around the world.

Look closer

  • Why do you think the man was included in the photograph?
  • What does the size of the statues tell you about how Ramesses II wanted to be remembered?
  • What does this photograph not tell you about the temple's original purpose or decoration?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Ramses II (Ramses the Great) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Two clay cuneiform tablets on a clear acrylic stand against a red background. The larger tablet is broken into several fragments, covered in dense wedge-shaped writing. A smaller tablet fragment sits at lower right, also inscribed.Document

Primary source

Egyptian–Hittite Peace Treaty

c. 1258 BCE

Facade of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel carved into a sandstone cliff under a clear blue sky. Four seated colossal statues of a pharaoh flank the central doorway, with a sand-covered walkway leading up to the entrance.Artifact

Primary source

Abu Simbel

Ramesses II · c. 1273 BCE

Sepia photograph of the Abu Simbel temple facade in Egypt. A colossal seated stone statue of a pharaoh with a striped headdress dominates the right. Beside it stands a statue of a falcon-headed god wearing a sun disk. Relief carvings and hieroglyphs cover the wall, and a small seated man at the bottom gives scale. Caption reads Abou Simbel, Gd Temple, Le dieu Soleil Ra et Rhamses II, P. Sébah.Photograph

Secondary source

Facade Detail of Abu Simbel Showing Ramesses II and Ra

Pascal Sébah · 1875

Sepia photograph of the ruined Ramesseum temple at Luxor, Egypt. Four fallen-headed colossal seated statues stand before a sandstone gateway with carved hieroglyphs on its lintel. A broken statue lies in the foreground, and a small figure sits near the base of the statues. Desert and a column are visible on the left.Photograph

Secondary source

Ramesseum Colossi in Ruins

Pascal Sébah · c. 1875

Black-and-white drawing in profile of an elderly Egyptian man wearing a tall, patterned royal headdress with a cobra emblem and a pleated collar necklace with a scarab pendant. Signed WLM 1917 at lower right.Painting

Secondary source

Figure of Ancient Egyptian, Ramesses II

1917

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