w

Bas-reliefs such as theseadd an exquisite graceto the massive walls ofPhilae.

PhJlaeresurrected

The temples of Nubia, those memorials to a

civilization thousands of years old, are nowalso fitting monuments to what can be achie¬ved by international solidarity: partly sub¬

merged after the building of the first AswanDam and under threat of disappearing forever beneath the waters of the Nile afterconstruction of the High Dam in 1960, theycould not have been saved but for concertedaction by many countries and for the inge¬nuity and patient efforts of many experts andtechnicians.

With the stone-by-stone dismantling andreconstruction in a new setting of the monu¬ments of the island of Philae the 'pearl ofEgypt' the International Campaign to Savethe Monuments of Nubia, launched byUnesco in 1960 at the request ofthe govern¬ments of the Arab Republic of Egypt and theDemocratic Republic of the Sudan, has nowreached its successful completion.

This campaign saved more than twentytemples and other architectural treasures.Among these was the magnificent rock-hewn complex of Abu Simbel, which wassawn into massive blocks that were thenhauled up 64 metres and re-erected, facingin exactly the same direction, on their newsite. The two temples and the colossal statueswhich adorn their façade now stand out ofreach of the waters, completely reconstruc¬ted, with no visible scars remaining.

This Philae campaign has been an extra¬ordinary venture in international co-operation.Throughout, the enthusiasm and dedication

of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization,under the presidency of Dr Gomal Mokhtarand subsequently of Dr Shehata Adam, whohad been involved in the campaign from thebeginning and gave it a decisive impetus,and of the campaign's Executive Committee,of which H.E. Professor Paulo de BerrêdoCarneiro of Brazil has been Chairman sinceits inception, have been a constant drivingforce.

Unesco's efforts for the safeguarding andpresentation ofthe cultural heritage have twoobjectives in view. First, they aim to ensurethat monuments bearing witness to man'screative genius, his struggles, his hopes andaspirations and his vision ofthe world shall be

preserved for future generations. Second,these treasures must be physically and intel¬lectually accessible to the widest possiblepublic: the peoples whose heritage they aremust be able to rediscover in them, hewnin stone, the history of their past and the tes¬

timony of their cultural identity, whilst theproducts of man's creative endeavours,wherever they are to be found, constitutethe common heritage of mankind, and themessage conveyed by such works, createddown the centuries in different parts of theworld, contributes to cultural enrichment,international understanding and rapproche¬ment between nations.

The Philae campaign that has now cometo an end can serve as an example in severalrespects. Unesco has taken advantage of theexperience thus gained to organize other

international campaigns to save endangeredmonuments in various regions. Its activitiesin this field have won wide support fromthe publier from government authorities andfrom experts, and the resultant general con¬cern for the preservation of man's culturalheritage could become a unifying force with¬in the international community.

It is my hope that the resurrection ofPhilae will not only mark the glorious cul¬

mination of a successful campaign but willencourage and point the way for the interna¬tional community to undertake further efforts,bringing the nations closer together in a

common heritage in the interests of goodwillamong men, international understanding andpeace.

Amadou-Mahtar M'Bow,Director-General of Unesco

Philae

A nineteenth-centuryprint shows the Philaewhich fascinated travellers,seeming 'to rise out ofthe riverlike a mirage'.

The building ofthe Aswan HighDam created a lake stretching500 kilometres; the score ofarchitectural treasures whichlay in the path ofthe waterswere dismantled and moved tonew sites thanks to theInternational Campaign forNubia.

Debod «X

Kertassl«

Taffeh

Bet el-Wali

Abu Simbel»,

Gebel Adda

Sudan

Buhen«,

SemnaWesti»^«'^"*^^"

The great rescue

ThisJ}uge stone figure standsbefore the twin-templecomplex ofAbu Simbel, whosesaving marked the high pointin the first phase ofthe Nubiacampaign.

From prehistory, the Nile has been a life-givingriver. Along its banks civilizations have flourishedthrough Pharaonic, Graeco-Roman, Christian andMuslim times to the present day, leaving behindthem a priceless legacy in architecture, sculptureand inscription.

In 1959, the twentieth century posed a newthreat to this cultural heritage: work on the AswanHigh Dam had begun and the temples, monumentsand sites on both sides ofthe river in Nubia weredue to be inundated in the waters of a reservoirstretching 500 kilometres down the valley as faras the Dal Cataract.

The new High Dam would bring much neededwater to thousands of hectares and provide theelectric power to drive the wheels of modernindustry. The governments of Egypt and the Sudan,giving priority to this promise of human healthand happiness, could not turn back the clock, norcould they on their own save the heritage fromtheir own past and from the common heritage ofmankind.

It was thus in that year that both governmentsturned to Unesco and its Member States for co¬

operation, for the Organization, by its Constitu¬tion, had been given the mandate of assuring theconservation and protection ofthe world's inheri¬tance of works of art and monuments of historyand science.

After Unesco's Executive Board had studieda report by international experts on the feasibilityof saving Nubia's treasures, the Director-Generallaunched a solemn appeal to governments, insti¬tutions, public and private foundations and 'allpeople of goodwill' for financial and technicalassistance.

This appeal, launched on 8 March 1960,marked the beginning of an unprecedented opera¬tion. Since nothing like it had ever been attemptedbefore, the whole campaign for Nubia had toproceed step by step, calling for imagination andinnovation as every fresh problem emerged.Difficulties were many: archaeologists, workingagainst the clock to carry through their excava¬tions in extremes of climate, had to improvisefacilities; many large-scale projects for the salvageofthe twin temples of Abu Simbel and of a complexon the island of Philae had to be examined beforethe solutions to the engineering problems werefound.

The whole campaign took twenty years, but by

the time it was completed some forty archaeologi¬cal missions from five continents had carried outscientific exploration of the sites in Egypt and theSudan; twenty-two monumental complexes hadbeen dismantled and moved to new sites; more

than $30 million had been collected throughUnesco to finance the rescue operation.

The list of temples rescued from the Egyptianand Sudanese sides of the river testifies to thescope of the operation and its success. Templessuch as Debod, Taffeh, Kalabsha, Wadi Essebua,Dendur, Amada and Ellesya, Kertossi, Bet el-Wali, Dakka, Maharraqa, Derr and Buhenwere saved. So were the tomb of Pennant, thesculptures of Gerf Hussein and Kasr Ibrim and themurals from Abu Oda. And to crown the firstphase of the campaign came the rescue of AbuSimbel, whose two rock-hewn temples were sawninto blocks weighing between 20 and 30 tonnes andreconstructed 60 metres above their original sitein a way which reproduced their setting and theirorientation towards the rising sun, whose rayspenetrate today into the innermost temples as

they did thousands of years ago.During the campaign, Unesco acted as the

essential intermediary between States and insti¬

tutions anxious to participate in the great enter¬prise and the governments of Egypt and the Sudan.It administered the Trust Fund which receivedcontributions. It also, in 1962, set up the bodywhich was to be the driving force of the wholecampaign.

This Executive Committee, composed of repre¬sentatives of fifteen States elected by the Organi¬zation's General Conference, met twice a yearexamining the technical, archaeological and finan¬cial reports prepared for it and giving the Director-General advice on the operations to be carriedout.

Advisory Committees of eminent experts hadalso been established by both the Egyptian andSudanese governments to give advice on the

technical, archaeological and landscaping aspectsof the salvage operations.

The success of the campaign spotlighted a

number of factors in themselves quite new: a

worldwide recognition that artistic treasures ofone region belonged in a very real sense to thecultural heritage of all; a determination to savethese treasures even at very great cost; a spiritof co-operation among Unesco's Member States,the governments of Egypt and the Sudan andtheir specialized services and Unesco, whichensured that problems were surmountable.

After the building ofthe firstAswan Dam, the mirage ofPhilae vanished, and its greatpylons were partiallysubmerged for most ofthe year.

For seventy years, the tides ofthe Nile rose and fell overPhilae's sculpted walls.

Island of Philae

1 . Temple of Augustus2. Site of the temple of Harendotes3. Great Temple of Isis

4. Gateway of Hadrian5. Ancient Nilometar6. Mammiseum7. East colonnade8. West colonnade9. Temple of Imhotep

10. Site of the chapel of Mandulis1 1 . Temple of Ar-Hes-Nefer1 2. Temple of Nectanebo13. Temple of Hathor14. Kiosk of Trajan

A pearlfrom the waters

Thanks to co-operation as intensive as it waswidespread, the first stage ofthe Nubian campaignachieved its goals in archaeological survey, inexcavation, in documentation and in the salvageof monuments. When the rescue ofthe two gigan¬tic temples of Abu Simbel had marked the zenithofthe first phase, the time was ripe to save Philae,the Pearl of Egypt, and thus crown the wholeoperation.

Not only has Philae been famed for its beautyover centuries but, in a way which prefigured thethreat to the other Nubian monuments, it has beenall but drowned for more than seventy years.From the completion of the first Aswan Dam in

1902, the island's precious cargo of temples andkiosks, colonnades and pylons uniquely combiningPharaonic and Graeco-Roman styles was engulfedby the waters of the Nile for most of the year.While the rescue of Philae did not involve therace against the clock called for to save otherNubian treasures, it gave life back to a site sacredto Isis, herself the symbol of resurrection.

In the Golden Age it was Isis and her spouse,Osiris, King of the Earth, who gave knowledgeto men. They instructed them in art and science,taught them how to cultivate the soil, to spin clothand make pottery. Then, according to legend,Seth, brother of Osiris, usurped the throne, cuttingthe king's body into several parts which he

scattered around the Nile Valley. Isis traced herhusband's remains and reassembled them. Then,using her magic powers, she brought him backto life and conceived a son by him, Horus, whofinally defeated Seth.

Devotion to Isis spread throughout the Medi¬terranean and beyond, but, over the centuries,Philae gained a special place in the cult, and it

was there that pilgrims fiocked for the enactmentof the death and resurrection of Osiris.

Nectanebo, one of the last native-born kingsof Egypt, built a temple on Philae in the first halfof the fourth century B.C., and after him thePtolemies, who ruled the country for 300 years,adopted the cult of Isis and added their ownshrines to the island.

The Great Temple of Isis was constructed duringthe third century B.C., the temples of Imhotep andArsenuphis following them. The last Ptolemaicmonument, the temple of Hathor, was completedbefore 116 B.C. by Euergetes II, and other Ptolemiesgave to the temples built by their predecessorsthe bas-reliefs and inscriptions which are stillamong Philae's chief glories.

From Egypt, the cult of Isis extended to Greece,

Tons ofsand mixed with waterwere poured into the spacebetween the piles encirclingPhilae to make a wall resistingthe pressure ofthe surroundinglake.

Once the coffer-dam aroundPhilae was complete, powerfulpumps began drainingthe island.

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^ñefore they were dismantled,the carved stones ofPhilaewere charted in a

photogrammetric survey bythe Institut GéographiqueNational, France; this detailis from the first pylon oftheGreat Temple.

A small army ofworkmen wasneeded to carry away the mudand silt left behind by the Nilewaters.

Rome and throughout the Empire, so that whenRoman rule was established in Egypt, successiveEmperors embellished the sacred island. Augustusbuilt a temple at the northern end of Philae in9 B.C., Tiberius and others added reliefs andinscriptions, and Claudius, Trajan, Hadrian andDiocletian erected new buildings up to the fourthcentury A.D.

So strong was the sway of Isis on Philae thather cult continued there for centuries, resistingeven the edict ofthe Emperor Theodosius, issued inA.D. 391, which imposed Christianity throughoutthe Roman Empire. It was not until A.D. 550 ,

under Justinian, that Christianity came to theisland and a new chapter in Philae's story began.

A Christian community was established on theisland, and the hypostyle hall was converted fortheir worship. Blocks were removed from some

ofthe monuments to build Coptic churches on theisland, and a village grew around the temple ofIsis.

Later on, Muslims also left their traces on theisland, and many stelae with Arabic inscriptionshave been found there. Fortunately, the GreatTemple was spared great structural damageduring these years of change and its originalinscriptions were largely preserved one ofthem, indeed, later providing a clue to a nameon the Rosetta Stone which led to the deciphermentofthe ancient hieroglyphic script.

Under Islam, Philae came to be regarded as a

legendary fortress, figuring in one of the storiesof the Thousand and One Nights and acquiringthe name of Anas el Wugud after the tale's hero.When its period of modern fame began, Philaebore the traces ofthe different cultures which hadflowed across it, among them the inscriptioncarved by Napoleon's expedition of 1799, thesame expédition which prepared the Descrip¬

tion de l'Egypte, establishing Philae as a goalfor travellers throughout the nineteenth century.

One of them, Amelia Edwards, has left animpression of the enchantment wrought by Philaeon its visitors. 'Seen from the level of a smallboat,' she wrote in 1874, 'the island with its palms,its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of theriver like a mirage.'

In our century, the mirage vanished exceptfor a few months of summer. After the buildingof the first Aswan Dam the level of the lake wassuccessively raised until the monuments werecovered up to the tips of the two pylons of thetemple of Isis for ten months of the year, and thepalms and flowering shrubs which had so set

off Philae's architecture were swallowed in rivermud.

Despite the alarm proclaimed by the Frenchauthor Pierre Loti in La mort de Philae, theisland did not die. Its monuments had been care¬fully surveyed and their foundations strengthenedbefore the floods arrived, and the buildings wereregularly maintained by the Egyptian AntiquitiesService in the summer months. While the watersremoved the coloured decorations from the walls,they also washed out the rising salts which so

often threaten to crumble old buildings into rubble.It was the building of the High Dam which

radically changed the situation. Lying betweenthe old and new dams, the island would be onlypartially submerged, but all the year round.Furthermore, the daily drawing off of water todrive electricity-generating turbines would meana constant fluctuation of some 3 metres in thewater level, bringing with it rapid deteriorationof the stone. Unless a solution were found, thefloating island which had so much struck travellersin the past would be wiped from the map.

Secure behind 3,000 sheet-steel piles, Philae emergesfrom the water again, and thework ofdismantling its templescan begin.

Three hundred metresdownstream, Agilkia is madeready to receive its preciouscargo.

After the rescue:sunlight plays againin the western colonnade

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This crane-driver's view ofthebeginning of work on the twinpylons ofthe Great Templegives an idea ofthe magnitudeofthe task.

Cocoons ofscaffolding go upround the Temple ofHathor,before dismantling.

When the problem of Philae was posed inall its urgency, the response to the Nubia cam¬paign had already demonstrated the determina¬tion of the international community that so muchbeauty and historical importance must not be

lost. The question was not whether to save Philae,but how to save it.

The salvage of Philae was seen as the finalphase of the whole international undertaking,with time in hand to find the most rational andaesthetically satisfying solution. The quest for itstretched over years of inquiry and expert study,beginning even before the first Unesco mission ofinternational experts went to the island in 1959.

This mission found there were three mainoptions:To maintain the water round the island at the

level it had before the building of the first As¬

wan Dam by constructing dams connecting theislands of Bigeh and Agilkia with the easternbank.

To dismantle the temples and reassemble themon Philae after raising its surface.

To build a barrier directly around the monu¬ments to protect them from the water.

An international meeting of experts convened byUnesco in Nubia, in October 1959, recommendedthe solution of building dams. It rejected the otherproposals and found that the building of a pro¬tective barrier would reduce the aesthetic impactof the complex.

The proposal recommended by the expertshad been originally published by the EgyptianAntiquities Service in 1955. It was studied in 1960by a consortium of Dutch engineers and geologistsas part of the Netherlands contribution to theNubia campaign and found to be feasible.

However, after study of the consequences ofthis scheme and particularly the effect of thecapillary water on the monuments and the highcost involved, the experts also recommended a

scheme by the Government of Egypt, to removethe monuments to Agilkia island.

This was the solution finally adopted. Removalwas found to present a number of advantages.If the Philae monuments were moved to the higher-lying island of Agilkia, they would be permanentlyabove the water level, would be restored to theirposition on a floating island, could have a solidbase of granite (some of the Philae foundationsrested on river sand) and could be set up in theoriginal orientation.

Furthermore, transfer ofthe monuments wouldcost less than creating an artificial lake aroundthe island, and only 40 per cent of the total fundswould need to be in hard currency.

But although Agilkia's shape and generaldimensions would permit it to accommodate themonuments in their original disposition, large

Trajan's Kiosk was submergedin the water nearly to thecapitals of its massive pillarsfor almost seventy years. Thenit emerged into the sun againbefore being dismantled andshipped to its new home. The giant cranes used to move

the huge stones ofPhilae hadnot been invented whenTrajan's Kiosk was erectedcenturies ago; the ingenuity ofits builders matched theirartistry.

Condotte-MazzI Estero, Rome

Éscale works would be needed to reproduce thatappearance of a floating island, with its subtleinterplay of reflection and reality, which hadgiven Philae much of its beauty; the north-easterncorner would have to be enlarged with between250,000 and 350,000 cubic metres of rock andthe south-eastern corner with some 100,000 cubicmetres plus dredged sand, while the western sidewould need to be trimmed back; gentle slopeswould be needed to complete the landscaping,and some ofthe higher-lying parts would have tobe planed down.

Most of Philae's monuments being constructedof relatively small sandstone blocks, dismantlingthem did not entail the large-scale work which hadbeen required by the hewn rock of Abu Simbel.But the work of removal, storage and reassemblystill presented problems which could only be

overcome with careful staff-work and planning.Therefore, it was decided to chart the

monuments before dismantling, using the methodof photogrammetry. In this method, pairs of high-precision cameras produce stereoscopic views ofthe object which can be traced over by a deviceknown as a stereo-plotter to create a continuousline drawing of all the variations in the planes ofthe object. The 'contour map' which results is soaccurate that it provides a precise guide for thereconstruction ofthe object in its original form.

The photogrammetric survey of Philae'stemples was contracted to the Institut Géogra¬phique Nationale of France which made nearly600 photogrammetric records of about 95 per centof all Philae's surfaces.

When the first phase of the Nubia campaignhad culminated in the inauguration of the AbuSimbel complex, transplanted and revivified onits new site, Unesco and the Government of Egyptcould move forward with confidence to achievethis big enterprise, relying again on MemberStates, organizations and institutions to contributefinancial support and expertise to the saving ofthePearl of Egypt.

It was then estimated that the salvage of Philaewould cost around $14 million. The EgyptianGovernment, which had contributed nearly halfthe sum needed to rescue Abu Simbel, faced thecontinuing problem of the amount to be found inhard currency, besides its own contribution. Manyother countries anxious to contribute to the TrustFund, but unable to do so in convertible currency,would, however, be able to join the enterprisewith Unesco acting as intermediary.

In the event, confidence was justified, althoughthe operation was spread over years. Theagreement on voluntary contributions began a

movement of international solidarity to save thetreasures of the Nile 'as part of the culturalheritage of the entire human race'. The WorldFood Programme agreed to provide food rationsfor the thousands of workers involved, savingwages worth more than $4 million. Twenty-threecountries made financial contributions to the TrustFund, and other contributions in cash and in kindfrom governments and institutions, including theproceeds from exhibitions of Egyptian treasuresaround the world, brought the total to more than$15 million.

The salvage of Philae began in 1972, whenpile-driving ships started hammering the first of3,000 steel sheet piles into the Nile bed to form a

coffer dam round the island. It took two years toenclose the island with twin rows of interlockingpiles, 12 metres apart; into this space was poureda thin 'soup' of mixed water and sand washedfrom the Shellal quarries 5 kilometres away andbrought across the lake by pipeline. The waterwas allowed to leak away, leaving the sand tosupport the steel against the pressure ofthe lake.The lifebelt round the drowning island wascomplete.

De-watering was the next stage. Powerfulpumps drained Philae, and hundreds of workmencarried away the remaining mud and silt. Behindthem came a smaller army of specialists archae¬ologists, architects, photographers and draughts¬men preparing for the cultural armada whichwas to carry Philae away to a new home.

From that new home, Agilkia 300 metresdownstream, clouds of dust and the rumble ofexplosions signalled that blasting was under way,paring more than 30 metres off the highest pointsof the granite mass. Bulldozers roared and clat¬tered, and thousands of tons of rock were shifted toextend Agilkia's coastline by about 13,000 squaremetres to the north-east and south-east. The islandwas being carved and moulded on the model ofPhilae into a shape that the ancient devotees ofIsis would have recognized: the form of a dovefloating downriver.

This part of the operation took five years andin the meantime, work on Philae itself went on.

The monuments were cleaned, the photogrammet¬ric recordings completed and the first blocksremoved on 9 September 1975. By early 1977,37,363 separate blocks had been lifted, labelled,inventoried and ferried by barge to a storageenclosure on the banks of the Nile, so that there-creation of the sacred island could begin. Thefirst stone was laid on Agilkia on 29 March 1977.

Re-erecting ell the monuments on their newsite took a further two years, and during this timeone of the most dramatic salvage operations ofthe whole campaign took place. The coffer damround Philae did not include three buildingsDiocletian's gateway, the temple of Augustus andthe temple of Harendotes which lay in deeperwater at the northern end ofthe island. Enlargingthe dam to accommodate them would havedoubled its cost, and divers were called in todismantle them under water. The Egyptian Navyand the British Royal Navy gave their help, andteams from both navies working in the wintermonths brought up about 900 blocks from thegateway and the temple of Augustus between 1976and 1978. The temple of Harendotes, which hadbeen used to provide building material for a

church and was largely destroyed, was foundto be buried in silt.

The last stage in the operation began in 1979with the landscaping of Agilkia with the trees andshrubs which had once flourished on Philae. Thiswas necessary to give the new Philae the specialmagic of the old the magic wrought by the subtlerelationship of natural vegetation and some ofthe finest works of man with the waters of theNile.

Resurrected Philae, like the ancient holyisland, offers only a small surface less than800 metres from north to south but one patternedwith buildings like a tapestry. There are morethan a dozen distinct monumental groups, theirforms massive but their decoration exquisite:sculpted capitals, successive registers of religiousscenes combining the pictorial impact of a modernstrip-cartoon with the sinuous grace of ancientGreek sculpture.

Modern pilgrims, if they land at the south, see

first the temple of Nectanebo, with eight columnson each side, connected by an intercolumnar walldecorated on both sides. Following the pavedavenue north, they have porticoes to their leftand right: the eastern portico with doors leadinginto chapels, the most important of which is thetemple of Imhotep; the longer western portico, its

thirty-two columns crowned by capitals carvedwith great artistry.

Before they reach the Great Temple of Isis

they see the gate of Ptolemy II, decorated withreliefs representing a Hellenistic sovereign andthe Roman Emperor Tiberius. They see the twin

Each stone was carefullynumbered and cataloguedbefore removal.

Blocks like these sections of a

pillar had to be hoisted bycrane for transport.

Altogether, 37,363 separateblocks were shipped to thebank and kept in storage whileAgilkia was made ready toreceive them.

A ferry service took theelements ofPhilae to storageon the river bank.

D;Vers from the Egyptian Navyand the British Royal Navyworked together to salvageDiocletian's Gateway and theTemple ofAugustus, which layoutside the coffer dam.

towers ofthe Great Temple's first pylon, 18 metreshigh, their surfaces finely decorated in the latePtolemaic manner and pierced by two doors, thecentral one leading to the first courtyard, theother into the Mammisi, or Birth House of Horus,three rooms surrounded by a portico.

After the massive second pylon and the secondcourtyard they see the hypostyle hall, its roof heldup by ten columns, the decorated inner courtyard,the suite of twelve rooms arranged around the

holy of holies containing a pink granite altar and,on the roof, the chapel of Osiris with its funeraryscenes.

They see more than a collection of buildingsof outstanding archaeological and artistic impor¬tance, more even than a glimpse into a pastbrought alive. For everything on the new Philaeis there as a result of co-operation on an unprece¬dented scale which itself makes history.

A score of countries contributed to the fund tosave Philae. So did foundations, internationalorganizations and private individuals. Engineersand archaeologists, art historians and geologists,surveyors, photographers, labourers, sailors,divers and specialists from many countries workedon the great task. The long undertaking wascarried through by intensive collaboration be¬

tween Unesco, the Executive Committee of theCampaign, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization,a consortium of Egyptian consulting engineers,the Egyptian High Dam Company for Civil Worksand the Italian contractors Condotte-Mazzi Estero,who dismantled and re-erected the monuments.

What the modern visitor to Philae sees is

something quite new in the world: the record ofthe community of ideals which brought into ajoint effort many nations representing many cul¬

tures to save what they saw as the cultural heritageof mankind.

Unesco/A.Vorontzoff

AcknowledgementsThis brochure is based on work by I. E.S.Edwards, Louis Christophe, Etienne Driotonand Saroite Okacha.Unesco is indebted to them and to the EgyptianAntiquities Organization and Nedeco, The Hague.

The first stone was laid on

Agilkia on 29 March 1977, andre-erecting all the monumentson their new site took a furthertwo years.

After its rescue, the Temple ofIsis rises from a sea of mud.The planned and painstakingwork of rebuilding begins.

At last, twenty-two centuriesafter it was built, the Great Templestands on its new site.

Cover photos: Alexis N. Vorontzoff and G. Bola

Published in 1980by the United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization,7 place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paris.Printed by d'Haussy, Tourcoing.

© Unesco 1980Printed in France