Egypt’s General Authority for Cultural Palaces celebrates Abu Simbel Temples’ Solar Alignment

CAIRO – 22 February 2021: The General Authority for Cultural Palaces celebrated the Solar Alignment phenomenon at Abu Simbel Temples on its official Facebook page, where it described the phenomenon as "one of the most famous astronomical phenomena that the ancient Egyptians embodied in Egyptian temples."

The General Authority for Cultural Palaces posted on its Facebook page a documentary film discussing the phenomenon.

According to the documentary, the sun becomes perpendicular on the Holy of Holies shrine of Abu Simbel Temples. This phenomenon also takes place in the temples of Karnak and Deir al-Bahri [Hatshepsut Temple in Luxor].

However, according to the documentary, the solar alignment of the Abu Simbel Temples attracted the most attention as it was accompanied by several interpretations and speculations.

Some say that the solar alignment phenomenon in Abu Simbel Temples occurs on the days of the birth and coronation of King Ramses II, while others claim that this phenomenon occurs on the birthday and death anniversaries of the late King, as if the time of his death was known in advance.

Here the question arises, how has the solar alignment occurred, unchanged, precisely on February 21 and October 21, for over 3000 years?.

When building any temple, engineers used to bear in mind several strict rules when determining the directions of the temple axes, from east to west, then south to north. It is consistent with the Osirian and Solar Creed of the ancient Egyptians.

In addition, certain priests were specialized in monitoring the path of the stars, and determining the movement of the sun and the moon to control the movement of the solar, lunar and astral calendar.