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Passing between the colossi, through the central entrance, the interior of the temple is decorated with engravings showing Ramses and Nefertari paying homage to the gods. Ramses' great victory at Kadesh (considered by modern scholars to be more of a draw than an Egyptian triumph) is also depicted in detail across the north wall of the Hypostyle Hall. 

The Small Temple stands nearby at a height of 40 feet (12 metres) and 92 feet (28 metres) long.

This temple is also adorned by colossi across the front facade, three on either side of the doorway, depicting Ramses and his queen Nefertari. The prestige of the queen is apparent in that, usually, a female is represented on a much smaller scale than the Pharaoh while, at Abu Simbel, Nefertari is rendered the same size as Ramses.

The Small Temple is also notable in that it is the second time in ancient Egyptian history that a ruler dedicated a temple to his wife (the first time being the Pharaoh Akhenaton, 1353-1336 BCE, who dedicated a temple to his queen Nefertiti).

The walls of this temple are dedicated to images of Ramses and Nefertari making offerings to the gods and to depictions of the goddess Hathor.

The location of the site was sacred to Hathor long before the temples were built there and, it is thought, was carefully chosen by Ramses for this very reason. In both temples, Ramses is recognized as a god among other gods and his choice of an already sacred locale would have strengthened this impression among the people.

The temples are also aligned with the east so that, twice a year, on 21 February and 21 October, the sun shines directly into the sanctuary of The Great Temple to illuminate the statues of Ramesses and Amun.

The dates are thought to correspond to Ramses' birthday and coronation. The alignment of sacred structures with the rising or setting sun, or with the position of the sun at the solstices, was common throughout the ancient world (best known at New Grange in Ireland and Maeshowe in Scotland) but the sanctuary of The Great Temple differs from these other sites in that the statue of the god Ptah, who stands among the others, is carefully positioned so that it is never illuminated at any time. As Ptah was associated with the Egyptian underworld, his image was kept in perpetual darkness.

In the 1960's CE, the Egyptian government planned to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile which would have submerged both temples (and also surrounding structures such as the Temple of Philae). Between 1964 and 1968 CE, a massive undertaking was carried out in which both temples were dismantled and moved 213 feet (65 metres) up onto the plateau of the cliffs they once sat below and re-built 690 feet (210 metres) to the north-west of their original location. This initiative was spearheaded by UNESCO, with a multi-national team of archaeologists, at a cost of over 40 million US dollars. Great care was taken to orient both temples in exactly the same direction as before and a man-made mountain was erected to give the impression of the temples cut into the rock cliff. 

All of the smaller statuary and stelae which surrounded the original site of the complex were also moved and placed in their corresponding locations to the temples. Among these are stelae depicting Ramses defeating his enemies, various gods, and a stele depicting the marriage between Ramses and the Hittite princess Naptera, which ratified the Treaty of Kadesh. Included among these monuments is the Stele of Asha-hebsed, the foreman who organized the work force which built the complex. This stele also relates how Ramses decided to build the complex as a lasting testament to his enduring glory and how he entrusted the work to Asha-hebsed.

Today Abu Simbel is the most visited ancient site in Egypt after the Pyramids of Giza and even has its own airport to support the thousands of tourists who arrive at the site each year.