The oldest Egyptian temple in Nubia, the temple is located 20 KM to the south of Wadi El-Sebua, the area had also the temple of El-Derr and the tomb of Aniba. Amada is located at 115 KM to the south of Aswan. The temple was built at the time of the new kingdom by pharaoh Thutmose III of the 18th dynasty and dedicated to Amun and Re-Horakhty, and RA Hor –Ahkty. His son and successor, Amenhotep II continued the decoration program for this structure.

In this temple king Thuhmosis II venerated the middle kingdom king Senusert III of the 12th dynasty, honoring the victorious campaigns that king Senusert have made in the land of Nubia.Amenhotep II's successor, Thutmose IV decided to place a roof over its forecourt and transform it into a pillared or hypostyle hall.

Due to the rising waters of Lake Nasser after the construction of the High Aswan Dam, the temple was moved, together with the nearby Temple of Derr, to a new, higher location some 2.5 kilometers from its original site between 1964 and 1975.

There are two important historical inscriptions from Amada temple. The earliest, dated to Year 3 of Amenhotep II, "is on a round topped stelae at the rear (eastern) wall of the sanctuary Amenhotep II goes on to describe how he hanged six of the dead chiefs "on the walls of Thebes" while the seventh was hung on the walls of Napata (a Nubian frontier city near the Fourth Cataract). This was done as a clear warning to the subject Nubians of the dangerous consequences of rebellion during Amenhotep's reign. The second historical text, "on a stela engraved on the left (northern) thickness of the entrance doorway" mentions the defeat of an invasion from Libya in Year 4 of Merneptah.

Like many other Nubian temples, the early Christians built a church capped by a cupola, and in the process, contributed their own damage. Although Christians plastered many of the reliefs, they in fact preserved many of them, making these depictions some of the finest remaining in any Nubian temple