For ten minutes, the statues of the main divinities of the time, Ra-Horakhty, Amun-Ra and the deified king Ramesses glow from the morning sun’s first rays. The creator god of Memphis, Ptah, being associated with the underworld in one of his guises, remains partially in the shadows.

This solar alignment used to occur a day earlier; however the remarkable moving of the temple to higher ground in the 1960s saw the solar event occurring one day later than it did originally. The two temples at Abu Simbel were relocated, block-by-block, to save them from the rising waters of the new Aswan High Dam’s reservoir, Lake Nasser.

The original dates, October 21 and February 21 are often cited as being chosen to acknowledge Ramesses’ birthday and coronation days, however there is no evidence at all to support the idea. It is probably more likely that the dates have an important religious significance.

https://www.nilemagazine.com.au/2015-october/2015/10/22/the-abu-simbel-sun-festival

Abu Simbel: The Temples That Moved~ https://www.livescience.com/37360-abu-simbel.html

Photographs: Egypt’s Twice-Annual Sun Phenomenon Wows Crowds~
https://www.voanews.com/a/egypt-sun-festival/4266365.html