The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was an effort to move 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, located in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. This was done to make space for the construction of the Aswan Dam at the Nile’s first cataract (shallow rapids), a project started after the 1952 Egyptian revolution. This project was led by UNESCO and supported by fifty countries. This effort helped create the World Heritage Convention in 1972, which established the system of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

The construction of the Aswan Dam was a major goal of the new government, the Free Officers movement of 1952, to better control flooding, increase water storage for farming, and produce electricity. These goals were considered important for Egypt’s industrial growth.

Building the dam would create Lake Nasser, which would flood the banks of the Nile for 479 km (298 mi) south of the dam, covering the entire area of historical Lower Nubia. This region included 22 important historical sites, such as the Abu Simbel temples, as well as the temples at Philae, Kalabsha, and Amada.

This effort was called in the UNESCO Courier “the greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time.”

In April 1979, the monuments were added to the World Heritage List as the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae, becoming part of the second group of sites listed (the first 12 were added in 1978).

History

In 1954, UNESCO created the CEDAE (Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte, or the Documentation and Study Centre for the History of the Art and Civilization of Ancient Egypt) in Cairo. Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, a French Egyptologist from the Louvre, led the center. The Study Centre focused on recording over 400 private tombs, mainly using photography and photogrammetry.

Knowing that plans for the Aswan High Dam were being made and that the dam might damage Nubian monuments, CEDAE, with UNESCO’s approval, decided to focus on Nubia. Desroches Noblecourt was determined to protect the monuments, especially Abu Simbel, which would be threatened by the dam’s reservoir.

To gain support, she arranged for Luther Evans, the director general of UNESCO, to visit Abu Simbel during his trip to Egypt. After his visit, Evans said, “These works are imperishable and must be protected. We must take action to do so.” However, UNESCO did not act immediately.

At an international conference in Paris in May 1955, organized by the International Council of Museums, Desroches-Noblecourt urged experts to save Nubia’s monuments. Though some attendees supported her, others doubted whether it was even possible to save them. Later, UNESCO’s chief lawyer, Hanna Sabba, advised her to seek help from René Maheu, who was then the undersecretary of UNESCO. Maheu promised his support. By September 1955, field expeditions led by Dr. Ahmed Badawi were underway in Nubia with UNESCO’s permission.

After the Suez Crisis, Desroches-Noblecourt, along with other British and French citizens, was confined to their homes or hotels before being expelled from Egypt in early November 1956. Later that year, the Egyptian government allowed her to return to CEDAE with French government approval. To replace the British and French experts who could no longer work in Egypt, she used her international connections to recruit specialists from other countries. She also helped keep the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO) open after the Egyptian government threatened to close it. Despite many appeals to Egyptian and UNESCO officials, she made little progress in saving the monuments.

Tharwat Okasha, head of Egypt’s newly created Ministry of Culture (established in 1958), had initially ignored Desroches-Noblecourt’s requests. However, in late 1958, Okasha had a change of heart after a meeting with Raymond A. Hare, the U.S. ambassador to Egypt, and James Rorimer, director of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Rorimer’s comment that Egypt might need to sell its monuments to other countries if it could not protect them deeply upset Okasha. He later told Desroches-Noblecourt that he felt it was the Ministry of Culture’s duty to save the monuments. She suggested Egypt work with UNESCO to protect them. By then, Maheu was a deputy director general at UNESCO and could help. In January 1959, Maheu met with Okasha in Cairo. Soon after, Maheu called Okasha by phone to support the campaign.

At the time, the Egyptian government focused more on improving the country than preserving its heritage, though it took pride in ancient Egyptian achievements. It took until early April 1959 for Okasha to convince President Nasser to seek international help. Nasser agreed to let Egypt pay one-third of the project’s costs, with UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture overseeing the work. In return, Egypt offered gifts, such as four Nubian temples, and allowed foreign archaeologists to keep half of any discoveries made in Nubia. This was a major change from Egypt’s usual refusal to let foreign archaeologists share in finds.

On April 4, 1959, Nasser signed a letter requesting UNESCO’s help, which Desroches-Noblecourt delivered to UNESCO. In June 1959, UNESCO’s executive board approved a plan to save the monuments. Teams from CEDAE inspected Nubian sites, while engineers from France’s National Geographical Institute used Egyptian aircraft to conduct aerial surveys. In October 1959, an international committee led by John Brew, head of Harvard’s Peabody Museum, toured Nubia with Desroches-Noblecourt. The committee’s report, signed by the Egyptian government, warned that losing 24 monuments would be “an irreparable loss for the world.” UNESCO’s executive council accepted the report in November 1959 and approved it in January 1960.

On January 9, 1960, construction of the Aswan High Dam began.

In early 1960, Vittorino Veronese, the director general of UNESCO, proposed saving the monuments to UNESCO’s executive board, highlighting the need to protect Nubian heritage in Egypt and Sudan while supporting Egypt’s development. He wrote, “It is not easy to choose between a heritage of the past and the present well-being of a people… it is not easy to choose between temples and crops.” The board approved the plan, and Veronese announced UNESCO’s campaign to save the monuments on March 8, 1960. To gain support, Okasha lobbied foreign ambassadors and leaders, while Maheu, with help from Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, sought financial aid from UN member nations. West Germany funded the relocation of the Temple of Kalabsha directly, while the United Kingdom initially refused help due to anger over the Suez Crisis but later changed its stance. To promote the campaign, Okasha arranged for Egyptian antiquities to be displayed in Europe, Japan, and the United States.

Overview of Campaign

The campaign was led mainly by Tharwat Okasha, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, René Maheu, Assistant Director General of UNESCO, and Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, a French Egyptologist at the Louvre.

The number of relocated monuments is reported as 22 or 24, depending on how each site is counted. Only one archaeological site in Lower Nubia, Qasr Ibrim, remains in its original location and above water. Previously a settlement on a cliff, it became an island. The relocated sites are grouped as follows:

• Two temple groups moved to nearby sites that are very similar
• Eleven temples rebuilt and placed together in three oases overlooking Lake Nasser
• Seven temples placed in two museums
• Five temples sent to Western museums as "grants-in-return" for technical and financial help

The list of relocated monuments includes:

• Qasr Ibrim (1840s)
• Qasr Ibrim today
• Ruins of Bigeh (1840s)
• Bigeh ruins today

Description and contributions

One plan to save the Abu Simbel temples was proposed by William MacQuitty. He suggested building a clear freshwater dam around the temples, keeping the water level the same as the Nile. The plan included underwater viewing areas. In 1962, architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry, along with engineer Ove Arup, developed this idea into a proposal. They believed moving the temples upward would not address the damage caused by desert winds to the sandstone. Although the plan was praised for its elegance, it was not accepted.

The rescue of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964. A team of archaeologists, engineers, and heavy equipment operators from many countries worked together under UNESCO. The project cost about $40 million (equivalent to $632 million in 2024). From 1964 to 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), taken apart, moved, and reassembled in a new location 65 meters higher and 200 meters back from the river. This was one of the most challenging tasks in archaeological history. Some structures were saved from being covered by Lake Nasser’s water.

The Temple of Amada was difficult to save because of its small, beautifully painted reliefs. It was considered one of the best-preserved examples of 18th dynasty art. Desroches Noblecourt said France would save the temple. However, more money was needed. She asked to meet with Charles de Gaulle, who did not know she had already promised to save the temple. When he learned of her plan, he asked, “How dare you say France will save the temple without my government’s approval?” Noblecourt replied, “How dare you speak on the radio without approval from Pétain?” De Gaulle agreed to support her promise.

In addition to funding, the French government provided technical help to move the Temple of Amada. In 1964, the front part of the temple was taken apart and moved by rail by the U.A.R. Antiquities Service. French archaeologists then used the same railway system to remove the rest of the temple.

In 1902, the British completed the Aswan Low Dam on the Nile. This threatened to flood many ancient sites, including the Philae temple complex. The dam’s height was raised twice, in 1907–1912 and 1929–1934, causing the island of Philae to be nearly always underwater. The temples were only visible when the dam’s sluices were open from July to October. During this time, it was suggested to move the temples piece by piece to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine. Instead, the temples’ foundations and supporting structures were strengthened. Although the buildings were physically safe, the island’s vegetation and the colors of the temple reliefs were washed away. Over time, silt and debris from the Nile covered the bricks of the Philae temples. By the 1960s, about a third of the buildings were underwater year-round.

Work on saving Philae began in 1972. A large coffer dam was built using two rows of steel plates with 1 million cubic meters of sand between them. Water that seeped through was pumped away. The monuments were cleaned and measured using photogrammetry, a method that helps recreate the original size of ancient building blocks. Each structure was taken apart into about 40,000 units, weighing 2 to 25 tons, and moved to the nearby Island of Agilkia, 500 meters away. Foundations for the Philae monuments were ready on Agilkia by April 1977, and the transfer took place between 1977 and 1980.

In addition to helping save Abu Simbel and Philae, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization rescued many smaller temples and monuments using its own money and resources. Starting in 1960, Egypt saved the temples of Taffeh, Debod, and Qertassi. In 1961, it saved Dakka and Maharraqa, and in 1962, the temple of Dendur. The temples of Wadi es-Sebua and Beit el Wali, along with the rock tomb of Pennut at Aniba, were moved in 1964 with U.S. funding. Later work used Egyptian resources. The Temple of Derr was saved in 1965, and other temples, chapels, and rock inscriptions were also rescued.

Early in the project, West Germany offered to dismantle and reassemble the Temple of Kalabsha, the largest temple in Lower Nubia, using German funding. Germany’s interest in helping came from its history of studying Egypt, including the work of Franz Christian Gau, who documented Kalabsha in 1819.

Because of the threat of flooding, Egypt and Sudan invited archaeologists worldwide to work in the region. About 40 teams from many countries explored an area about 500 km long.

Many countries also helped with excavations and preservation. Work included efforts at the CEDAE (Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte), founded in Cairo in 1955 to organize academic research.

• Egypt: Five campaigns by the University of Cairo at Aniba. One campaign by the University of Alexandria at Gebel Adda. Eight excavation campaigns by the Antiquities Service on various sites. Three campaigns for removing rock drawings. Removal of eight monuments, work on two others, dismantling the front part of the Temple of Amada, and financial support for saving Amada, Wadi es-Sebua, Beit el-Wali, and Aniba.
• Sudan: Since 1960, the Antiquities Service, led by a UNESCO expert, conducted surveys and excavations of important sites.
• Argentina: Three archaeological campaigns in Sudan by the National University of La Plata.
• Austria: Six campaigns in Egypt by the University of Vienna. An epigraphist was sent to CEDAE.
• Belgium: Three experts were sent to CEDAE. Photogrammetric and epigraphic records were made of five monuments in Sudan. Helped pay for moving the Semna temple in Sudan.
• Canada: One campaign in Egypt by the Royal Ontario Museum.
• Czechoslovak

World Heritage Site

In April 1979, the monuments were added to the World Heritage List as the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae." The area includes ten sites. Five of these were moved to new locations, all south of the Aswan Low Dam. The other five remain in their original places, near the city of Aswan:

Relocated sites, south of the Aswan Low Dam
• Abu Simbel
• New Amada
• New Wadi Sebua
• New Kalabsha
• Philae temple complex (Agilkia Island)

Sites in their original location, north of the Aswan Low Dam
• Qubbet el-Hawa (Old and Middle Kingdom Tombs)
• Ruins of the town of Elephantine
• Stone quarries and Unfinished obelisk, Aswan
• Monastery of St. Simeon, Aswan
• Fatimid Cemetery of Aswan

However, these five original sites are not located in Nubia, nor are they between Abu Simbel and Philae.

Gallery

• Egyptian government offered to send monuments abroad in the 1960 UNESCO Courier
• Statements from Egypt and Sudan in the 1960 UNESCO Courier
• List of monuments in danger in the 1960 UNESCO Courier
• List of monuments moved to safer places in the 1980 UNESCO Courier
• Information about Philae Island in the 1961 UNESCO Courier
• List of sites explored along with relocated monuments in the 1980 UNESCO Courier
• Information about Abu Simbel in the 1961 UNESCO Courier
• Details from the 1961 UNESCO Courier
• List of monuments planned for relocation in the 1961 UNESCO Courier