Professional and Avocational Photographs
  

COMMENTS
page 3

As a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam (1960 - 1970) the Island of
 Philae was completely submerged under the waters of the Nile and ceased to exist.
To save its temples and monuments from being lost permanently, a cooperative effort
was mounted by UNESCO and the Egyptian Antiquity Organization, to move them to
nearby Agilika. A coffer dam had to be built around Philae and the water pumped out.
Between 1972 and 1980, some 40,000 blocks weighing about 20,000 tons were moved
to their new location and reassembled, after careful landscaping, to make it resemble
 Philae as much as possible.