The Abu Simbel temples, carved from sandstone in the 13th century during Ramesses II's reign, are two monumental structures located in Nubia, Egypt. After being buried in sand for centuries, they were rediscovered in 1813 and relocated in the 1960s to avoid flooding from the Aswan High Dam, an effort that preserved their cultural and architectural significance despite introducing modern materials and methods. The relocation project not only maintained the temples' essence but also reflected a global collaboration to protect cultural heritage.

1. Picture source : ancient.eu

2. About the temples
 Abu Simbel temples are a set of two rock cut
temples located in Nubia, southern Egypt.
 Carved from a Sandstone mountain
 They were originally built in 13th century during
the reign of Ramesses II
 It resembles his victory in Battle of Kadesh.

3. Satellite location
Picture credits : triphistoric.com

4. Discovery
 Until 1813, the temples were buried in sand,
when the Swiss orientalist JL Burckhardt
discovered it with the help of a boy named
Abu Simbel.
 He spoke about his discovery with Italian
explorer Giovanni Belzoni.
 In 1817 they were able to uncover the
entrance and the great monument was
rediscovered.

5. Picture source : Brooklyn Museum
Picture credits : John Beasley
Greene
Picture source : Brooklyn Museum

6. The Great Temple.
• It is 98feet high and 115feet long
• Facade faces east. Picture source :
wallpaperclicker.com

7. • Though the temple is dedicated to Gods
Amon-Re, Ptha and Re-Horakhte, the front
facade of the temple has 4 seated mega
statues of Remesses II which are 65feet tall.
Picture source : Brooklyn
Museum
Source : Brooklyn Museum.website?

8. • Beneath the statutes are small figures of
his conquered enemies, his family
members, various gods and symbols of
powers.
• The interiors show him paying homage to
different gods and also his victory in the
battle of Kadesh.
Picture source :
dilemmadotnet.files.wordpress.comPicture source : w:en:Than217

9. Picture credits : Christain
Zesewitz

10. Picture credits : Christain
Zesewitz
Picture credits : UNESCO

11. The small temple
Picture source :
amedia.britannica.com

12. •It is 40feet high and 92feet long .
•The front facade has 6 statues two each of
Queen Nefertari and the reaming of Paraoh
Remesses II.
• Each statue is 32feet tall.
•It dedicated to queen Nefertari and the
goddess of love, Hathor.

13. Relocation
 Due to the construction of
Aswan High Dam there
were severe chances of
rise in the water level of Nile
river which would
submerge the monument.
 The only solution of
preserving these massive
structures was relocating
them.
Picture source : sv:Froskning &
Framsteg 1967 issue3, page 16

14.  Due to which the entire site was dismantled into
large blocks and reassembled to a new site which
was 65 m high and 200 m back from the river Nile.
Picture credits : Zurek (taken at Nubian
Museum)

15. •It costed over 40
million US Dollars.
•The entire relocation
lasted for around four
years that is from 1964-
1968.
Picture source : i.imgur.com
Pictute source : https://youtu.be/2SxLufRZr4c

16. Did the salvation of the Abu
Simbel Temples affect it’s
Cultural and Architectural
value ?

17. Research
 Various processes were looked upon before they reached to
the relocation method.
 Some of them are listed below
I. Construction of a colossal aquarium around it and allowing
the water to flood in.
II. Lifting the whole monument by hydraulic tanks.
III. Enclosing the monument in a concrete barge and letting it
float on the water.
But none of them we possible due to the huge size if the
monument, the structure weighed 250,000 tons.

18. Process
 A coffer dam was constructed to buy
more amount of time.
 They had to move not only the temple
but also the whole mountain so that it
did not loose its essence.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

19. • They removed the rock using steel wire
and chain saw.
• It took about 500 men and almost 7
months to move only the mountain.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

20. Precautions
 The cutting of the facade and internal walls were
done using handsaw, the cuts were made up of
less then 8 mm thickness.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

21. • While cutting the
face of the Pharaoh
they covered each
cut line with a
bandage and resin
to stop the edges
from crumbling. Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

22.  The statues were cut in
such a way that the
cutting did not interfere
with the faces of
Pharaoh and intricate
carving and so as to
minimise the damage.
Pictute source : https://youtu.be/2SxLufRZr4c

23.  Metal rods were drilled into the blocks and filled
with grout and ice water
 The blocks were lifted using cranes and transported
to storage yard using trucks
 All the blocks were numbered so that they can be
re assembled as they were.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

24.  In order to assemble the face of the statue to the
head an L shaped counter weight was attached to
the body of the face using steel rods.
Pictute source : https://youtu.be/2SxLufRZr4c

25.  To replicate the mountain
and to carry the weight of
the rocks, a concrete
dome was built above the
temple at the new site.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

26. • Sandstone and rocks were pilled on top of the
dome to replicate the surrounding of the original
temple.
• It also supports the front facade.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

27.  The joints are filled with a mixture
of sand and cement to match
the colour of the sand stone.
 Grounded stone mixed with
paint was used to restore the
paintings.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

28.  To protect the stone from further damage synthetic
resins were applied to the statues.
 Steel section frames were used to hold the internal
walls and roof till they are relocated.
Picture source :
https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8

29. How did it affect
culturally?
 The original site where temples stood was
considered sacred to Goddess Hathor. Keeping this
in mind, Pharaoh Remesses built the great Temples
there. But after the relocation of the temples the
sacredness of the site was lost.

30.  The design of the mega structure was
aligned in such a way that twice a year
on 21st February and 21st October the sun
ray illuminated the three of the four
statues in the inner sanctum of the great
temple. This was preserved while
relocating the temple.

31. How did it affect
architecturally?
 There was introduction of modern
materials like steel, concrete, plastic and
cement mortar.
 Originally it was carved in a sand stone,
but due to the relocation they had to
make several changes to the structure
like construction of concrete dome and
introduction of steel framework for the
roof to increase its stability.

32.  Since the monument was now open to
general public, modern installations such
as electrical lighting and mechanical
ventilation was introduced.
 The ventilation provided the visitors with
comfort as well as protected the
monument from increasing humidity.

33. Significance
 Though all the new introductions were
done during the relocation of the great
monument, neither did they change the
appearance of the temple nor did it
loose its essence.
 This project of relocation united the
whole world for a cause. This monument
is looked upon as “the monument which
got the whole world together”.

34. Bibliography
Sources we used for our research and presentation :
 https://youtu.be/oZ9jewecEK8
 https://youtu.be/2SxLufRZr4c
 https://sciencing.com/did-egyptian-government-relocate-temples-
abu-simbel-6930.html
 http://anthropology.msu.edu/anp363-ss13/2013/02/06/abu-simbel-
temples-relocation-due-to-aswan-dam/
 https://en.unesco.org/70years/abu_simbel_safeguarding_heritage
 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2326-
1951.1964.tb00752.x/abstract
 https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m
ashable.com/2015/05/26/abu-simbel-
relocation/&ved=0ahUKEwjY2Lya5uPZAhUHQ48KHWx2CLoQFgivATAc
&usg=AOvVaw1uAa4bugkMNzn43Rm-G0dY
 http://www.livescience.com/37360-abu-simbel.html

35. Presented By
ANANDI KUNDARIA
SANAD PARAB
SIYA PRABHU DESSAI
YASHDEEP RANE