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In my last post, The immensity of time, I featured a painting by the 19th century artist David Roberts of the ruins of the Egyptian temples Abu Simbil half buried in sand. Abu Simbil is a 3200 year old temple complex dedicated to Ramesses II and his wife Nefertari. The temples were dug out and restored at the time of Roberts' painting.
However, with the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960s it was once again threatened to be lost -- this time under the waters of Lake Nasser, the reservoir that would be created by the dam. To preserve the temples a project was launched in 1959 to relocate the temples to a new site above Lake Nasser. They were eventually moved to a site 200 meters further inland and 65 meters higher to save them. It took 4 years and cost $300 million in today's dollars.
Information for this post is from Rare Historical Photo's post Relocating the Egyptian Temples of Abu Simbel, 1964-1968, and Atlas Copco post Abu Simbel – Unparalleled relocation project.
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