Hundreds of towns and villages have perished due to massive earth-moving projects such as the construction of dams.
The Abu Simbel temples were originally located along the Nile river, carved out of the solid mountain rock.
The most famous of these are the rock-cut temples near the modern village of Abu Simbel.
The Great Temple of Abu Simbel.
Four epic statues depicting the pharaoh himself seated on a throne face the entrance.
Each statue is twenty meters tall.
Between the statues lie the entrance surmounted by a bas-relief of the king worshipping the falcon-headed god Ra Horakhty.
Inside the great hall of the temple are eight columns, each carved in the resemblance of Ramesses.
The spacious interior is decorated from floor to the ceiling with heliographic glorifying Ramessess military campaigns.
Ramesses built another temple, the so-called Small Temple, dedicated to his wife Nefertari and goddess Hathor.
Usually, queens are depicted no taller than the knee of the pharaoh.
The Small Temple of Abu Simbel.
Photo:Ad Meskens / Wikimedia Commons
Over the millennia the temples became buried in sand and was forgotten.
There was, however, one major drawback.
The temples during excavation, circa 1853 1854.
Photo: John Beasly Greene
In 1959, the Egyptian government approached UNESCO for help.
Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, UNESCO embarked on its first-ever collaborative international rescue effort.
An international fund-raising project was launched in 1960.
The Tutankhamun Treasures exhibition was featured across North America, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan.
The money generated helped finance not only the Abu Simbel project but many future UNESCO campaigns.
Numerous ideas on how to save the temples were proposed.
One involved creating a gigantic aquarium around the temples with elevator-accessible underwater viewing chambers for visitors.
This idea was rejected.
Another proposed raising the temples on hydraulic jacks, but the cost would have been immense.
Work began in November 1963.
The greatest care was needed while cutting up the stones.
In the end, the larger temple yielded 807 blocks and the smaller one 235.
Once cut, each block was coated to protect it against splitting and fracturing during transport.
The new site was located about 200 meters further inland and 65 meters higher up.
The successful relocation of the Abu Simbel temples set the momentum for further rescue efforts.
First, bringing together the best expertise the world has to offer.
Second, securing the international cooperation of its members.
We recognized that one country alone is just not capable.
The Galapagos Islands became the first World Heritage Site in 1978.
The Nubian Monuments were added to the list in 1979.
