The temples of Abu Simbel seem inseparable from their mountain. However, the monuments we see today have changed their location. The construction of the Aswan high dam threatened to swallow them. To preserve them, the specialists have chosen an operation that seems at first contrary to conservation: cutting the stone.
As part of the international campaign launched by UNESCO, the temples have been divided into more than a thousand blocks. Numbered, moved and assembled higher and further from the future lake, these elements found their organization in a cliff built to welcome them. The new site was inaugurated on September 22, 1968.
Visitors can admire ancient monuments in a modern layout. The rescue did not consist in making a simple remote copy: original elements actually traveled. Behind the apparent immobility of the colossuses is an international construction site that has transformed their position to allow them to remain visible.
What we know
The relief of welcome is rebuilt; the monuments have been moved.
To go to the source
References consulted on September 21, 2026. Linked pages may be in another language.
Signaler une erreur ou apporter une précision
