Nubiana

187 PHASES OF THE WORK The rescue work can be divided into three macro phases. The first was devoted to the general and detailed topographic, architectural and photographic survey of the temples, the completion of the construction work and the building of the large reservoir to protect the area during the dismantling phase. Once the façade of the temples had been protected with a mound of sand and the ceilings supported with steel frames, the second phase consisted of ex- cavating the hill above, cutting up and dismantling both the temples and the sand- stone which formed the natural framework of the monuments themselves. In addi- tion, the blocks were given essential reinforcement with epoxy resin injections, and were then transported and stored at the site earmarked for their reconstruction. The third phase involved the reassembly of the temples at their new site, 65 meters above their original site and set back 180 meters behind it. PROTECTING THE AREA Under the watchful eye of Ramesses II, the waters of the Nile rose re- lentlessly each day, creeping ever closer. It became increasingly urgent to move the temples to a safe place and prepare the area for their reassembly. In spring 1964, work began on construction of a 372 m long barrier ris- ing 25 m above the river bed. It was built with sheet piling 24 m high that covered an area of 11,000 m 2 . A large quantity (380,000 m 3 ) of rock and sand was placed on both sides of the sheet steel piles fixed in the rocky bed of the gorge, both inside and outside it. By the following spring the work had largely been completed, but in November 1965 the waters were just 2 meters from the crest of the dam. Phases of the work Façade of the Great Temple, detail of one of the colossi of Ramesses II viewed from below. Above it, the frieze of sun- worshipping baboons can be seen. PAGES 176-178 AND 183-185 Book of the dead of Kha: Chapters 23, 81a and 87. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, early 14th Century BC, Deir el-Medina, !eban Tomb 8. Schiaparelli’s excavations 1906. Museo Egizio, Turin.