http://www.memphistours.net/Egypt-Guide/Nile-Valley/Abu-Simbel.php

The stretch of the Nile Valley that runs from Aswan, past the great Philae Temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, which was dismantled and reconstructed on Agilikia Island before its former site,Philae Island, was flooded when the old dam was constructed, onwards past the Aswan Dam and the huge manmade lake, Lake Nasser, comes to a halt at Abu Simbel. The town is around 280 kilometres from Aswan and some 100 kilometres from the Sudan border. Abu Simbel is best known for its two magnificent temples that were originally carved out of solid rock on a mountainside way back in the 13th century BC. An UNESCO World Heritage Site, they are known as the Nubian Monuments and dedicated to the great deities of the day Ra-Horakhty or Horus, Ptah and Amun. They were built to honour the great pharaoh Ramses II and his wife Nefertari.
Such was their historical importance and the glimpse they gave the world of an ancient civilization that when the new dam was built to regulate the waters of the Nile, and create the massive Lake Nasser, the temples were the subject of much discussion. A subsequent rise in water levels threatened to submerge them. A mammoth project to save the temples was conceived and work began in the early 1960s.

the most magnificent monuments in the world! There is nothing else like it. There is a marvellous Sound and Light show on every evening -- different languages at different times. It is very atmospheric. The lively paintings on the walls and ceilings of both temples are almost alive in their colourful renderings. The whole place is in fantastic condition.

The temple of the sun in Abu simbel was build by one of the most famous pharaohs, Ramses II ( 1180bc) with the four giant statue carving from a rock mountain which resemble his own portrait. Its a 3 hour drive from Aswan town along the desert and if you travel in the morning before dawn , you can even have a wonderful sight of sunrise.