her kings before Ramses had constructed buildings in these spots, and
their memory would naturally become associated with his in the future;
he wished, therefore, to find a site where he would be without a rival,
and to this end he transformed the cliff at Abu Simbel into a monument
of his greatness. The rocks here project into the Nile and form
a gigantic conical promontory, the face of which was covered with
triumphal stelae, on which the sailors or troops going up or down the
river could spell out as they passed the praises of the king and his
exploits. A few feet of shore on the northern side, covered with dry and
knotty bushes, affords in winter a landing-place for tourists. At the
spot where the beach ends near the point of the promontory, sit four
colossi, with their feet nearly touching the water, their backs leaning
against a sloping wall of rock, which takes the likeness of a pylon. A
band of hieroglyphs runs above their heads underneath the usual cornice,
over which again is a row of crouching cynocephali looking straight
before them, their hands resting upon their knees, and above this line
of sacred images rises the steep and naked rock. One of the colossi is
broken, and the bust of the statue, which must have been detached by
some great shock, has fallen to the ground; the others rise to the
height of 63 feet, and appear to look across the Nile as if watching the
wadys leading to the gold-mines.

[Illustration 224.jpg THE TWO COLOSSI OF ABU SIMBEL TO THE SOUTH OF THE
DOORWAY]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Insinger and
Daniel Heron.

The pschent crown surmounts their foreheads, and the two ends of the
head-dress fall behind their ears; their features are of a noble type,
calm and serious; the nose slightly aquiline, the under lip projecting
above a square, but rather heavy, chin. Of such a type we may picture
Ramses, after the conclusion of the peace with the Khati, in the full
vigour of his manhood and at the height of his power.

[Illustration: 225.jpg THE INTERIOR OF THE SPEOS OF ABU SIMBEL]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Insinger and Daniel
Heron.

The doorway of the temple is in the centre of the facade, and rises
nearly to a level with the elbows of the colossi; above the lintel,
and facing the river, stands a figure of the god Ra, represented with a
human body and the head of a sparrow-hawk, while two images of the king
in profile, one on each side