Remembering the effort to save Egypt's Abu Simbel temples from submersion

Experts say that with major dam projects under way in Sudan and Ethiopia, the job of protecting Nubian culture is not finished

A temple of Hathor and Nefertari, also known as the Small Temple, in Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

A Great Temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

Salvage work are under way on the colossal 32-century-old temple of Abu Simbel, built by King Ramses II and dedicates to the worship of four prominent gods, as scores of determined archaeologist rally for the "last big dig" to save Nubia's invaluable relics before they disappear beneath waters rising behind the Aswan Dam. AP Photo

A large interior pillar is lifted by crane after it had been cut free during the massive international operation to save the ancient Abu Simbel temples from the waters of the man-made lake forming behind the Aswan high dam in Egypt. AP Photo

The results of three years of dismantling the temples of Abu Simbel in Egypt lie in a storage area behind the huge escarpment before being moved and re-assembled on higher ground. AP Photo

In Egypt, workmen lower one of the heads of the four rock-hewn colossi of King Ramses II into place, on the foundation of the re-sited monument. AP Photo

Luciano Paoli shows the inside of the Ellesiya Temple, one of the treasures transported away from an area of the Nile river valley flooded by the construction of the Aswan Dam, at the Egyptian museum in Turin, Italy. AP Photo

French First Lady Brigitte Macron visits the temple of Abu Simbel in southern Egypt. AFP

Hieroglyphs and statues at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

Hieroglyphs at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

Hieroglyphs and statues at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

Hieroglyphs at the Great Temple of Abu Simbel, south of Aswan in upper Egypt. AFP

Egyptologists and other experts gathered in Italy this week to celebrate a successful campaign to save ancient Egyptian temples from being submerged by a dam project 50 years ago and heard of cultural sites facing similar threats.

The international campaign that saved the temples of Abu Simbel during construction of Aswan High Dam was remembered in Turin as an unprecedented engineering achievement and a turning point that made the preservation of cultural treasures a responsibility that cut across borders.

But experts at the Monday event said that with major dam projects under way in Sudan and Ethiopia, the job of protecting Nubian culture is not finished.

The director of Turin's Egyptian Museum, Christian Greco, noted that the focus in a modernising Egypt half a century ago was on saving major monuments, largely due to time pressure.

Recording and salvaging settlements and domestic artefacts received less emphasis, and many were lost underwater when the dam across the Nile River and its lake reservoir went in, she said.

"Unfortunately, we know that the traces, above all of pre-history before mummies, were lost under the waters of Nasser Lake," Greco said. "It also needs to be a lesson for the future because there are still great challenges."

In 1960, the United Nations' cultural agency, Unesco, issued an international appeal to save the temples of Abu Simbel, an ancient gateway to pharaonic Egypt, dedicated to Ramses II and his wife Nefertiti.

More than 113 countries responded with funds or expertise. Expert marble cutters from Carrara in central Italy, engaged by an Italian construction company that now goes by the name Salini Impregilo, led the job of breaking down the imposing sandstone temples into 1,070 blocks.

The blocks were subsequently moved to higher ground, and the temples reconstructed and positioned as ancient architects intended: allowing the sun to shine on the end wall two days each year.

Ana Luiza Thompson-Flores, director of Unesco's office in Venice, said it was debated at the time whether the $36 million (Dh132 m) earmarked for the temples' preservation would have been better spent on initiatives such as ending poverty.

But Thompson-Flores said the global response ultimately "was the birth of the recognition that there were aspects of this world, whether monuments or landscapes, that actually have a recognised outstanding universal value for humanity."