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Primary sourceArtifactc. 1280 BCE

Temple of Beit el-Wali

Ramesses II · c. 1280 BCE

A small Nubian temple built for Ramesses II, decorated with reliefs of his military campaigns and divine favor.

Ramesses II commissioned this temple, which celebrates his military campaigns and divine favor.

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Painted relief on a stone wall showing two figures in red and blue tones, with hieroglyphs above; a standing figure in a headdress is at center, and a figure with a tall crown and collar stands at right. Weathered paint and a vertical crack run through the wall.
Relief from the Temple of Beit el-Wali, commissioned by Ramesses II, c. 1280 BCE. New Kalabsha, Egypt.

About this source

What it is

Beit el-Wali is a small rock-cut temple commissioned by Ramesses II around 1280 BCE in Nubia. Its reliefs show the young king campaigning against Nubians, Libyans and Syrians and receiving tribute, as well as being granted long life and embraced by the gods. The temple was relocated and now stands at New Kalabsha in southern Egypt.

Why it matters

The temple's reliefs are a form of royal propaganda, presenting Ramesses II as a victorious military leader favored by the gods early in his reign. It reveals how pharaohs used monumental art to project strength and divine approval to their subjects and to peoples beyond Egypt's borders.

Look closer

  • What is shown in the scenes of tribute and divine embrace, and what message do they send?
  • Why might a king want to record foreign campaigns inside a temple rather than, say, a palace?
  • What does the relocation of the temple tell us about efforts to preserve ancient monuments?

This artifact 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

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.Photograph

Secondary source

Abu Simbel Temple Colossi

Pascal Sébah · 1875

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

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