If Abu Simbel had not been saved, places like Vienna’s Historic Centre, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and other Unesco World Heritage sites might only live on in history books.
Deep within the interior of the Great Temple at Abu Simbel, carved into a mountainside in southern Egypt’s ancient Nubian Valley, lies a vast, wondrous world. Pillars adorned with intricate military artworks support a ceiling painted with winged vultures. Floor-to-ceiling hieroglyphics depicting the victorious battles of Pharaoh Ramses II, the same man responsible for constructing this enormous temple, decorate the walls. Outside, four colossal statues of the pharaoh face east toward the rising sun, looking out over a crystal-clear lake.
It’s an incredible sight to behold, but one that if history had gone just a little bit differently, would not be here today. Instead, this temple would be under the lake’s waters. What’s even harder to imagine, if Abu Simbel had not been saved, places like Vienna’s Historic Centre, Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and other Unesco World Heritage sites might only live on in history books.
Read more from source: Egypt’s exquisite temples that had to be moved
