The appearance of the dam has affected a series of ancient structures
Abu Simbel is a historical site consisting of two large stone temples, located in the village of the same name in the Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan.
The sacred structure is located on the western shore of Lake Nᴀsser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan. The two temples were originally carved into the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty of Pharaoh Ramesses II. Therefore, the structure is also known as the Temple of Ramses II or Ramesses II.
Egypt: “Splitting up” the 16,000-ton ancient temple to move to a new location, installed like a toy
With an age of more than 3,300 years, the ancient temple is today one of the tourist attractions in Egypt. Looking at the impressive scale from the outside, few people know that this mᴀssive building was once “splitted up” to move to a new location.
Back to the historical story. In 1960, when the Aswan Dam began construction in the south of the city to prevent flooding of the Nile River, generate electricity and provide irrigation water for agriculture, experts said that the project would have major disadvantages.
The creation of Lake Nᴀsser, an artificial reservoir located upstream from the dam, would force 90,000 people in the area to relocate. The project would threaten the region as well as many other sites, including the Abu Simbel complex near the Egypt-Sudan border.
The structure is now more than 3,300 years old (PH๏τo: Trip).
Therefore, in the same year, the Executive Committee of UNESCO launched a campaign to call for help from member countries to save ancient historical relics.
About 30 countries have established a national committee consisting of researchers, archaeologists, engineers and architects to carry out the rescue mission.
“Splitting up” the 16,000-ton ancient temple to move to a new location, ᴀssembling it like a toy
At that time, the Egyptian government and UNESCO experts made a list of relics “threatened” by the dam. It was a huge area spanning more than 2,000 years of human civilization. The sites included an ancient fortress in Sudan built in the 19th century BC. However, the structure itself could not be saved and is now submerged under water.
“Slicing up” ancient temples, moving to new locations
Many ancient structures were successfully moved, such as the Amada temple built in the 15th century BC, the Wadi es-Sebua temple and the Kalabsha temple. And the biggest challenge was to “save” the “twin” temple of Abu Simbel, which houses four giant statues of Ramses II.
The task became even more difficult when the Nᴀsser reservoir was operating at full capacity in 1966.
In 1963, after many proposals were proposed and rejected, the expert group decided that the Abu Simbel temple would be cut into 807 stone blocks, each weighing 20-30 tons, and moved to a higher location.
A temporary dam was built around the area to keep the structure dry. Next, the work needed to be done was to install a power station, build a network of supply roads, and create accommodation for thousands of workers participating in the project.
The temple was cut into 807 large pieces (PH๏τo: National Geographic).
Four sitting statues and six standing statues were cut into pieces. Specialized equipment such as cranes, cylinders, and winches were used to lift the stone blocks weighing tens of tons to a height of 65m.
The most difficult thing was that the engineers had to calculate the exact angle when reᴀssembling the temple based on astronomy. At the time of the temple’s construction, the Pharaoh asked the ancient architects to design it so that twice a year, the sun would shine directly on the large temple, through the main hall to shine deep inside to light up the statues of the gods.
Therefore, the dismantling and relocation process was even more complicated because the engineers had to ensure that when installed at the new location, the sunlight would still shine deep inside in the same order. Everything was ᴀssembled like a “lego game model”.
The dismantling ended in April 1966. The reconstruction process that followed was documented by National Geographic magazine (USA). After more than 2 years, the ancient temple was inaugurated at the new location in September 1968, 65m higher than the old place.
The effort was considered “unparalleled” in the history of archaeology. At that time, the former director of Nubia Monuments (Egypt) wrote: “Thus, the greatest monument ever carved from stone, the precious jewel in the treasure of Nubia, was saved”.
Moving and installing the temple required precise calculations (PH๏τo: National Geographic).
And moving the temple fulfilled Pharaoh Rames II’s dream of “immortifying the building”.
Tourists admire the ancient structure (PH๏τo: Tour).
Today, the structure has become one of the most popular destinations in Egypt. Visitors can travel here by road from Aswan city or by plane.
