large-scale rock-cut structures were built in ancient egypt. among these monuments was the great temple of ramesses ii, known as abu simbel, located along the nile in nubia, near the borders of sudan about 300 kilometers from aswan in egypt. it dates from about the 19th dynasty (ca. 1280 bce), and consists of a monumentally scaled facade carved out of the cliff and a set of interior chambers that form its sanctuary.