National Geographic History - July 2019

16 JULY/AUGUST 2019

other ancient monuments in the region. To save

them, Egypt sponsored a massive international

effort to launch the most complex archaeological

rescue mission of all time: to move entire sites

to higher ground.

Before the Flood

At almost 13,000 feet in length, the Aswan High

Dam was to be built just south of the Nile-side

city of Aswan, upstream of Luxor. The brainchild

R

omantic poet Percy Bysshe Shel-

ley found inspiration in the long

history of Egypt when he penned

“Ozymandias” around 1818. In

the poem, a traveler in the desert

comes across the broken ruins of a huge statue:

And on the pedestal these words appear:

‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

A meditation on impermanence, Shelley’s

work shows how even the strongest are pow-

erless against time and change.

Ozymandias is another name for Ramses II,

the most powerful king of Egypt’s 19th dy-

nasty. Ramses’ reign began a golden age in

Egypt, brought on by his successful military

campaigns into the Levant, Nubia, and Syria.

Each of these victories was memorialized by

new cities, elaborate temples, and massive

statues erected all over his realm.

Among his many projects were the temples

of Abu Simbel in Upper Egypt. Located in Nubia

along the Nile river, they were carved out of solid

rock. They commemorated a victory over the Hit-

tites at Kadesh in 1275 B.C., and reminded Nubia

of Egyptian dominance. Like many ancient struc-

tures, they eventually fell into disuse, true to the

themes of “Ozymandias.” Sands moved in and

buried the temples of Abu Simbel for millennia.

In 1813, archaeologists recovered Ramses’

temples from the desert, and their immortal-

ity seemed assured until 1960, when plans to

dam the Nile threatened to submerge them and

SAVED FROM
THE DELUGE
Originally housed in
the ancient fortress
of Buhen in Sudan,
this 13th-century B.C.
relief (above) depicts
a viceroy of Ramses II
before the snake
goddess Renenutet.
The fortress now lies
under Lake Nasser.
British Museum,
London

UNITED

EFFORT

1960

As construction of the

Aswan High Dam proceeds,

UNESCO appeals to the

international community

to help preserve the

monuments of Nubia.

1964

In parallel with the

dismantling of other sites,

the salvage of Abu Simbel

begins. A team begins to

cut the structures into more

than a thousand blocks.

1966

The temples are

successfully dismantled

months before their old site

floods. Reassembly, which

will be completed in 1968,

begins on higher ground.

ALBUM