The Aswan High Dam, Lake Nasser and the Nubian monuments

Background

The Aswan High Dam is a rock-fill dam on the Nile River at Aswan, Egypt, completed in 1970 at a cost of about $1 billion; it impounds floodwaters and generates hydroelectric power. Flooding by the Nile and Lake Nasser threatened the temples of Nubia, so Abu Simbel, Amada, Wadi Sebua, Kalabsha and Philae were moved during the UNESCO International Campaign from 1960 to 1980. The Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae, in the Governorate of Aswan, were inscribed in 1979.