Abu Simbel: The Pharaoh’s Solar Machine (Part 1 of 3)

Pharaoh Ramses II built a temple in the Nubian desert that aligns with the sun twice every year. Learn how the Great Temple of Abu Simbel was constructed as a display of power, its rediscovery after being buried by sand, and the twentieth-century threat that nearly submerged it forever. New stories every Tuesday and Friday. Want more on Ramses II? Listen to "Ramesses the Great" by Toby Wilkinson, free with an Audible trial: https://link.amazon/B035aeHjc Support the channel on Patreon:   / toofartoreturn   As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Part 1 of 3: "Abu Simbel" Watch the full series:    • Abu Simbel: Full Documentary Series   Next: Part 2, Abu Simbel Rescue: Lifting the Face of Ramses II (Part 2 of 3) -    • Abu Simbel Rescue: Lifting the Face of Ram...   CHAPTERS 0:00 The Solar Phenomenon 1:48 Construction and Propaganda 3:21 Architecture of the Temples 6:13 Rediscovery in the Sand 8:34 Deciphering the Hieroglyphs 11:46 The Threat of the Aswan High Dam HOW THIS VIDEO WAS MADE Researched and written from the sources listed below. Narration uses a synthetic text-to-speech voice. Some scenes are AI-generated reconstructions made for illustration; they are not historical photographs or footage. Archive photographs are credited below. SOURCES "Working Together: Abu Simbel", published by UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Link: https://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/... "Temples and Tombs of Ancient Nubia: The International Rescue Campaign at Abu Simbel, Philae and Other Sites" by Torgny Säve-Söderbergh (ed.), published by Thames and Hudson / UNESCO in 1987. Link: https://archive.org/details/templesto... "Abu Simbel", published by Encyclopaedia Britannica. Link: https://www.britannica.com/place/Abu-... "Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia" by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, published by John Murray, London in 1820. Link: https://archive.org/details/narrative... "Determining the Dates of the Illumination of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel and their Relation to Khoiak" by K. A. Weyburne, published by ENiM 14, pp. 261-272 in 2021. "A Thousand Miles up the Nile" by Amelia B. Edwards, published by Longmans, Green, London in 1877. Link: https://archive.org/details/thousandm... "Abu Simbel", published by Wikipedia. Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Simbel IMAGE CREDITS Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA / cropped to 16:9 Photo: Ovedc, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons / cropped to 16:9 Plate: Ippolito Rosellini, I monumenti dell'Egitto e della Nubia (1832-1844), New York Public Library, public domain / cropped to 16:9 Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA / cropped to 16:9 Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA / cropped to 16:9 Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA / cropped to 16:9 Plate: G. B. Belzoni, Plates illustrative of the researches and operations in Egypt and Nubia (1820), New York Public Library, public domain / cropped to 16:9 Plate: G. B. Belzoni, Plates illustrative of the researches and operations in Egypt and Nubia (1820), New York Public Library, public domain / cropped to 16:9 Plate: Louis Haghe after David Roberts, Egypt and Nubia vol. I (1846), Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / cropped to 16:9 Lantern slide: Brooklyn Museum Archives, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons / cropped to 16:9 Plate: Louis Haghe after David Roberts, Egypt and Nubia vol. I (1846), Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / cropped to 16:9 Plate: Louis Haghe after David Roberts, Egypt and Nubia vol. I (1846), Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / cropped to 16:9 Photo: Manfred Niermann, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons / cropped to 16:9 Diego Delso, delso.photo, License CC-BY-SA / cropped to 16:9 Archive images are shown with slow pan and zoom. Licenses: CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... | CC0 1.0: https://creativecommons.org/publicdom... #documentary #history #truestory