Abu Simbel Temples salvage documentation center

Abu Simbel Temples salvage documentation center stands beside the ancient temples in Egypt, at the edge of desert and Lake Nasser. Soft light falls across drawings, photographs, and instruments connected with their rescue. Ramses II’s temples faced submersion when the great dam on the Nile raised the surrounding waters.

Engineers, architects, and archaeologists worked together during the 1960s to protect the sandstone monuments. Workers cut the temples into numbered blocks and moved them to higher ground. Swiss architect and archaeologist Jean Jacquet helped make the reconstruction possible through careful documentation. UNESCO led the international campaign, whose success later inspired the World Heritage list. Outside, sunlight reaches the sandstone cliffs above the landscape that still surrounds Abu Simbel.