Aswan High Dam
Construction of the Aswan High Dam began on 9 January 1960 and took over 11 years to complete. Almost 20 monuments were dismantled and rebuilt away from the flood waters, most were transported to new sites. The Abou Simbel temples were cut up into large blocks and reassembled 50 metres higher up and all the buildings on the Island of Philae were reconstructed on the Island of Agilkia, some 300 metres further north. Some monuments were offered to donor countries, such as the Temple of Dendur which is today housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, others have disappeared forever under the waters of the Nile.
