NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 19of Ramses II had become an iconic image of
Egypt. The engineering feats and the expense
were daunting. The team had a hard deadline, as
Lake Nasser would reach full capacity in 1966.
In 1963, after numerous ideas were proposed
and rejected, it was decided that Ramses’s tem-
ples would be cut into more than a thousand
blocks and relocated to a higher spot. The mis-
sion required complex infrastructure. A tem-
porary dam was built around the site to keep
it dry. A network of supply roads had to be
laid, an electricity-generating station had to
be installed, and accommodations had to be
provided for the thousands of laborers involved
in the project.
Dismantling concluded in April 1966. Re-
construction followed, and National Geographic
magazine documented the colossal effort of
excavating the new site, moving the blocks, and
putting the pieces back together. After more
than two years of painstaking work, Abu Simbel
was inaugurated in its new, higher location on
September 22, 1968.
This effort remains unequalled in the history
of archaeology. The former director of the Egyp-
tian Monuments of Nubia Service later wrote:
“Thus the most imposing monument ever hewn
out of rock, and the jewel of the Nubian trea-
sures, had been saved. At the same time, the
transfer of the temples fulfilled King Ramses II’s
dream of immortalizing his temple.”GEORGE STEINMETZ/GETTY IMAGESESTHER PONS IS A CURATOR IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES
AT SPAIN’S NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM IN MADRID.SAFE ON
DRY LAND
The temples salvaged
on the island of Philae
were reconstructed
on nearby Agilkia
Island (above).
The complex was
completed in
1979, a year before
UNESCO formally
declared the Nubian
project successfully
accomplished.