The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968 under the supervision of a Polish archaeologist, Kazimierz Michałowski, from the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology University of Warsaw,on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary or they would have been submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the River Nile. The project was carried out as part of the UNESCO Nubian Salvage Campaign

Alignment of the Sun with the Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel The larger temple is aligned with the sun, so twice a year the sun shines in its deepest recesses to illuminate a statue of Ramses and the gods to which the temple is dedicated. The ancient architects positioned the temple so that sunlight reached the room on February 22, the anniversary of his accession to the throne and on his birthday, October 22. On these two dates, the sun rises and illuminates the temple corridor, and three of the four statues in the sanctuary. The first three statues are of Pharaoh Ramses II, Ra (the god of sun), and Ammon (the king of the gods). Ramses was included with the gods because, like the other pharaohs, he considered himself a god. The fourth statue remains in darkness because it represents Ptah, the god of darkness. This statue has never seen sunlight in more than 3,200 years.

The small temple of Queen Nefertari is located a hundred meters to the north of the large temple, and this temple was carved into the rocks of the mountain that the ancient Egyptians called "The Pure Mountain" or "The Northern Mountain", and before the construction of the Nefertari temple, the local people came to this mountain because they believed that the spirit The goddess Hathor lives inside this mountain, and King Ramses took advantage of the belief of the people of Abu Simbel and carved a temple dedicated to both his wife, Queen Nefertari, and the goddess Hathor.