Egypt - Abu Simbel

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Around 1257 BC, Pharaoh Ramses II (1279-13 BC) had two temples carved out of solid rock in the land of Nubia. Most of Nubia is in today’s Northern Sudan. A smaller portion, approximately a fourth of Nubia, is in the country of Egypt. The area where these temple now stand is known as Abu Simbel. The temples were lost in time until their rediscovery in 1813.

When Egypt began the construction of the High Dam in Aswan in the 1960’s, it was feared that the temples would be submerged in the rising water of Lake Nassar. So between 1964 and 1966, The Egyptian government, assisted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), completely disassembled both temples and relocated them on a cliff about two hundred feet above the original site.

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