Video: 3,000 tourists observe sun alignment on King Ramses II’s face at Abu Simbel
Over 3,000 foreign and Egyptian tourists gathered to observe the sun’s alignment on the statue of King Ramses II in Abu Simbel temple on Sunday in Aswan, Upper Egypt.
The event is a rare astronomical phenomenon that occurs twice a year on February 22 and October 22.
The first alignment on February 22 marks Ramses’s assumption to the throne and the start of the summer and harvest seasons for ancient Egyptians, and the second on October 22 falls on his birthday.
The Director General of Antiquities of Aswan and Nubia, and General Supervisor of the Tourism and Antiquities Sector in Aswan Abdel-Moneim Saeed said that the phenomenon began at 6:53 pm and continued until 7:13 pm.