Other 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 of the god, offer him a figure of Truth.  The first hall, 130 feet long by 58 feet broad, takes the place of the court surrounded by a colonnade which in other temples usually follows the pylon.  Her eight Osiride figures, standing against as many square pillars, appear to support the weight of the superincumbent rock.  Their profile catches the light as it enters through the open doorway, and in the early morning, when the rising sun casts a ruddy ray over their features,