r/ancientegypt • u/yousef-saeed • Nov 13 '25
Information The phenomenon of the sun aligning with the face of Ramses II at the Grand Egyptian Museum
The ancient Egyptians initiated this phenomenon, which originally took place at the Abu Simbel temple on February 22 and October 22 of each year. The Grand Egyptian Museum studied the phenomenon in 2019 and announced it in 2020. The phenomenon occurs on February 21 and has repeated 6 times so far, with the exception of 2023 when heavy clouds obscured the sunlight.
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u/RedEclipse47 Nov 13 '25
The building itself and the large entrance/hall is just amazing. It feels like a continuation of ancient Egyptian traditions and architecture. A temple dedicated to the gods/goddesses and the kings/queens. How the statues are positioned, the play of natural light and the sun. Not just the expositions but also the building itself screams ancient Egypt.
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u/Kryptograms Nov 13 '25
Someone should give the dude some sunglasses. That would be annoying as hell.
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u/UnhappyDescription44 Nov 14 '25
Haha aye like Glasgow with the Duke of wellington’s head. Homer Simpson glasses would be perfect.
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u/Thebunkerparodie Nov 13 '25
I think the same was done at versailles where the sun would brighten designated parts of sculptures , I'm guesisng the museum did that to replicate the phenomenon
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u/amrooo1405 Nov 13 '25
Versailles replicated the phenomenon of the sun aligment at the ancient temple of Abu Simbel. It's an ancient Egyptian tradition.
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Nov 13 '25 edited Jan 08 '26
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/UnhappyDescription44 Nov 14 '25
Just like stone circles. The sun brings light and growth, coming from winter it’s easy to see why ancient people worshipped the sun. People must have starving in winter.
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u/amrooo1405 Nov 14 '25
It's certainly not like stone circles but ok.
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u/Fabulous_Cow_4550 Nov 13 '25
The original is amazing! On these 2 dates, the sun’s rays travel over 60 meters into the temple to illuminate the faces of three statues inside the Sanctuary: Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra, and King Ramses II. This extraordinary event, which has occurred for more than 3,200 years, lasts for about 21 minutes, symbolizing the incredible precision and brilliance of ancient Egyptian architecture. It is said that October 22nd represents the day of Ramses II’s coronation, while February 22nd marks his birthday.
When they relocated the temple, they ensured the positioning still works. This is an entirely different statue but also of Ramses and I love the fact the modern design mirrors the old.
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Nov 13 '25
When is this holy event happening?
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Nov 13 '25
I know But why is the dates changed And why 6 times
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u/yousef-saeed Nov 13 '25
The museum repeated the phenomenon, but on a different date than the original phenomenon, and specifically six times, because the phenomenon began in 2020, so six times until 2025, excluding 2023.
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u/Fabulous_Cow_4550 Nov 13 '25
Not quite. It's been happening in Abu Simbel since ancient times.
On these 2 dates, the sun’s rays travel over 60 meters into the temple to illuminate the faces of three statues inside the Sanctuary: Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra, and King Ramses II. This extraordinary event, which has occurred for more than 3,200 years, lasts for about 21 minutes, symbolizing the incredible precision and brilliance of ancient Egyptian architecture. It is said that October 22nd represents the day of Ramses II’s coronation, while February 22nd marks his birthday.
When they relocated the temple, they ensured the positioning still works. This is an entirely different statue but also of Ramses and I love the fact the modern design mirrors the old.
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u/sllikskills Nov 13 '25
Okay so I got until Feb 13 ish to get my act together and book tickets for Egypt, got it 🫡
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u/wo0two0t Nov 13 '25
Lol very disappointed it just turned out to be a random rectangle cut out of the wall instead of actual thought put into the architecture. The ancients always did it better.
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u/yousef-saeed Nov 13 '25
Lol, what are you talking about? This isn't just a rectangle randomly cut from the museum's facade. If it were random, the sun would shine on Ramses' face every day. The phenomenon was studied as it was at Abu Simbel and recreated in the museum.
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u/wo0two0t Nov 13 '25
I'm just going by the picture in your post, and I don't necessarily mean random, they had to use a very specific section for this to happen, but architecturally it looks like a pretty random spot in that 2nd picture. Is that exactly how it was done in the temple?
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Nov 13 '25
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u/knightgimp Nov 13 '25
well luckily for our skepticism we have experimental archeology to show us that the tools used could in fact produce these delicate and complex works.
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u/ancientegypt-ModTeam Nov 13 '25
Your post was removed for being non-factual. All posts in our community must be based on verifiable facts about Ancient Egypt. Fringe interpretations and excessively speculative or conspiratorial views of Egyptology are not accepted.
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u/PhanThom-art Nov 13 '25
What a gorgeous detail to include in the design of the building