An unprecedented operation to save a world heritage site in response to a call for help from UNESCO. In the 1960s, the temples of Abu Simbel, built by Ramses II in the 13th Century BC, were dismantled, stockpiled, transported and rebuilt at an elevated site that was safe from the rising waters of the reservoir of the new Aswan Dam. The position of the temples in relation to the course of the sun and planets was also maintained.