Crowds watch twice-a-year sunrise ceremony at Abu Simbel temple

Tourists flocked to the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt on Thursday to witness a rare astronomical ceremony that has been taking place for thousands of years.

The sunrise illuminated the face of the statue of Ramses II in Egypt's Abu Simbel temple on Thursday, something which happens only twice a year.

Hundreds of tourists from different parts of the world came to witness the event.

It takes place two times a year, on 22 October – Ramses' birthday, and 22 February - the date when he ascended to the throne.

"Today is an extraordinary day, everyone is keen, there are people who stayed over the night, foreigners who actually spent the night in Abu Simbel to see this phenomenon," said Egyptian tour guide Yasser Fouad.

The temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, which dates back to the 13th century BC, is considered one of the country's main archaeological attractions. In the 1960's, archaeologists undertook a massive reconstruction and relocation project of moving the temple out of the line of floods created by the Aswan Dam.

There are conflicting theories about when and how the sun phenomenon would have taken place at the temple's previous location, but some archaeologists believe the two dates mark Ramesses' coronation day and birthday.

Ramses II was the third Pharaoh of the 19th dynasty of ancient Egypt, and is often cited as the most powerful one.