The three-thousand-year-old rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel and the story of their rescue from the rising waters of Lake Nasser in the 1960s are almost as familiar worldwide as the tale of the gold funerary mask and brief life of the boy king Tutankhamun. Yet although they remain among the most celebrated, visited, and photographed archaeological sites in the world, the lower Nubian temples-from Philae in the north to Abu Simbel in the south-are some of the least understood by the visitor. In this lucidly written, beautifully illustrated book, Nigel Fletcher-Jones places the temples in their historical context, telling the story of the discovery of the Abu Simbel temples, and why and how they were moved, explaining what the Nubian temples teach us about ancient Egypt, which gods and goddesses were worshiped there, and the place of Rameses II in the long line of ancient Egyptian kings and queens. With over 80 new photographs, diagrams, and maps, and packed with fascinating insights, Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples is an ideal introduction to one of the world's great regions of archaeological splendor.

Abu Simbel and the Nubian Temples: A New Travelers Companion is an ideal, information-packed, gorgeously photographed, and easy-to-follow guide to Abu Simbel and other Nubian temples. Author Nigel Fletcher-Jones has a rare gift-to see the whole and the detail simultaneously, to provide us with the whole context, on the one hand, but also those brilliant little elements of a place easily missed without the expert's eye. His photographs are exactly what makes this travelers companion special. This book is a wonderful addition to the libraries of globe-trotters as well as explorers of the imagination. -- Kara Cooney A fine companion for a visit to the iconic Nubian temples. -- Aidan Dodson

Nigel Fletcher-Jones, with a PhD in archaeology and anthropology from Durham University, UK, has been director of the American University in Cairo Press since 2012. He writes regularly on Egyptian archaeology and history for magazines, and blogs at imagesofcenturies.com.