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. . . . . .The awe that modern travellers feel standing before the mountain of Ramesses II took on a new significance in the early 1960s when we used twentieth century technology to save this treasure from destruction. The temple was being threatened by the rising waters of Lake Nasser, which was formed when the Aswan High Dam was built. The mountain had to be moved.
. . . . .The moving of this temple and the
smaller temple of Ramesses's favorite Queen, the beautiful Nefertari
took four years. It was carried out with financial and technical
assistance from around the world. The final price tag was the
equivalent of 40 million US dollars.
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 . . .In the late 1990's the waters of Lake Nasser had risen high enough to flow into the spillway known as the Sadat Canel. It now flows into the western dessert and is creating the Toshka Lakes. |
. .
..The
construction of the Temple of Abu Simbel was a twenty
year task. Unlike most Egyptian temples it was not erected block by
block, it was carved into a mountain side. A fact
that makes
this temple that much more impressive.
. . . . .The mountainside was cut into
pieces, dismantled and moved 215 feet to higher ground where it was
reconstructed into a
man-made mountainside, which is supported by a
large concrete dome. The measurements and layout of the temple were
carefully calculated and recreated. This was done to continue a
spectacular semiannual solar event that was an important part of the
temples ancient design.
. . .Lake Nasser seen from
the International Space Station in 2005. This photo is courtesy of
NASA/JPL-Caltech.
A shade oasis overlooking Lake Nasser
