Burckhardt
talked about his discovery with Italian
explorer Giovanni Belzoni, who travelled
to the site, but was unable to dig out
an entry to the temple. Belzoni returned
in 1817, this time succeeding in his attempt
to enter the complex. He took everything
valuable and portable with him. Model
showing the positions of the Abu Simbel
temples before and after relocation.In
1959 an international donations campaign
to save the monuments of Nubia began:
the southernmost relics of this ancient
human civilization were under threat from
the rising waters of the Nile that were
about to result from the contruction of
the Aswan High Dam. The salvage of the
Abu Simbel temples began in 1964, and
cost some USD $36 million. Between 1964
and 1968, the entire site was dismantled
and reassembled in a new location –
65 m higher and 200 m back from the river.
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