Temples of Wadi es-Sebua

[1] As part of the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, along with Abu Simbel, Philae, Amada, and other Nubian archaeological sites, the temples at Wadi es-Sebua were relocated in the 1960s and inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.

[5] During the Amarna Period, images of Amun were attacked and the decorations deteriorated but Ramesses II later restored and extended Amenhotep III's temple by building structures in front of the pylon.

[6] The temple of Wadi es-Sebua was the third sanctuary or chapel constructed from rock with a forecourt built with stones that Ramesses II erected in Nubia.

The local Arabs, inspired by the stone sculptures of sphinxes which lined the entrance to the first temple, baptized the place as 'Wadi es-Sebua' or the Valley of the lions.

This layer helped to preserve for posterity the original reliefs; the best examples here are located in the sanctuary and associated chapels of Ramesses' temple where colourful scenes depict Ramesess adoring the sacred boats of Amun-Re and Re-Horakhty.

[10] There is also an interesting scene in the central niche of Wadi es-Sebua temple where two statues of Amun and Re-Horakhty which stood besides Ramesses II were hacked away by later Christian worshippers and replaced by an image of St.

[10] When the plaster coating was removed from the carved reliefs, one finds a bizarre image of Ramesses II offering flowers to St Peter instead.

Colossi and Sphynx at Wady Saboua by Francis Frith (1858)
Sphinx of Ramesses II from his Wadi es-Sebua temple
The forecourt of Wadi es-Sebua
Relief of Ramesses II presenting an offering to the gods at Wadi es-Sebua