Kalabsha - Temple of Kalabsha

The large and picturesque Temple of Kalabsha originally stood 30mi/50km farther south at the site of ancient Talmis, now submerged under the waters of Lake Nasser. The most imposing monument in Nubia after the Rock Temple of Abu Simbel, it was built in the time of Augustus on the site of an earlier temple founded by Amenophis II and refounded by one of the Ptolemies. The decoration of the temple with reliefs and inscriptions was never completed; the reliefs that do exist are crudely executed and have frequently been misinterpreted. The temple was dedicated to the god Mandulig, but Osiris and Isis were also worshiped here. After the coming of Christianity it was converted into a church.

After the construction of the first