Abu Simbel – Unparalleled relocation project
In 1959, UNESCO received an official request from the Egyptian government regarding the rescue of the unique temples in Abu Simbel. With the construction of the large Aswan Dam, two ancient temples would be submerged and irreparably damaged. These twin temples, one larger and one smaller, were built more than 3,200 years ago by Ramses II as monuments to himself and his queen Nefertari.
However, international fund-raising began for the project in 1960. Because the temples were carved in sandstone, explosives could not be used to any greater degree.. To move the temples, the rock above the temple roofs first had to be “peeled away”. The roofs, walls and not the least the temple facades were then cut into blocks, each weighing between 20 and 30 tons.
Reassembly with extreme precision
The new site was about 200 meters further inland and 65 meters higher up. The temples’ alignment in relation to one another and to the cardinal directions had to be exactly the same as before. This was so that during certain hours of the spring and autumn, the rays of the sun would continue to illuminate the statues in the larger temple’s inner halls, 60 meters into the cliff.
The blocks were put back into position one at a time with extreme precision… The blocks were secured to one another using reinforcement bars and drilled holes, and the joints were filled with an artificial material.
Obviously, the temples could not be framed in natural stone as at their original site. This feature had to be artificially produced. First of all, 30,000 cubic meters of stone had to be removed to make way for reassembly. Gigantic cupolas where thereafter constructed above the temple roofs, and surplus stone masses from previous excavations were formed into natural-appearing hills above the cupolas. About 330,000 cubic meters of stone were placed above the cupolas.
Work with relocating the Abu Simbel temples was concluded on September 22, 1968 with a large inaugural ceremony. The entire project cost about SEK 200 million to complete (about SEK 1.7 billion in today’s monetary value). The Abu Simbel temples were placed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1979.
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