How do You Move A 3000-Year-Old Ancient Egyptian Temple? | Huge Moves | Odyssey

In the 60s, some of Egypt's most sacred sites faced destruction from the creation of a high Dam at Aswan. A multi-national alliance stepped in to help save these ancient sites, leading to one of history's most ambitious engineering projects.
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[@mlfett6307]

in 1969 when I was 10, my uncle gave me a few Nat Geo mags to read. One of them detailed the move of the Abu Simbel temples. I was enthralled. It was an article I read over and over again, and helped grow my life-long interest in Ancient Egypt. Even though my education and career turned out to be in computers, I still have that magazine as well as many other books on the subject. Still an ancient history fan after all these years.

[@MsWaleed1992]

Can you upload the pictures of magzine on google drive and share the link

[@tonoxavier9718]

In 1969, we Chinese were suffering from the horrendous Culture Revolution.Countless ancient monuments and sculptures were demolished and damaged.That was a real purgatory in human history.

[@paulfrancis8836]

Most a Ancient China has not been discovered, Be it unknowingly or knowingly. China, for the most part, has been left out of history. Archeologist should press hard against China's regime.

[@blackberryrasin321]

@@MsWaleed1992 eec😂vvvv

[@mikereilly7629]

I also was 10 years when they moved the two temples. My next door neighbor gave me his entire collection of Nat Geographic. I grew up fascinated by all the ancient and natural history in those yellow magazines. To this day I still have every issue from the very first ever printed up to 1985. Too old to move that many boxes again

[@johnpartridge7623]

All those different Nationalities coming together to do a job was just brilliant but for me the Labourers, Egyptian etc who did the Manual work are the real heroes of that job 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Dan-xx5jq]

I am so glad the world came together and saved this important piece of history. I am glad they didn't just give up and say it was too costly or too much world. it is just incredible feat!!!!

[@GehanAdel]

This is the most sophisticated operation you may have ever seen , came with those ingenious and brilliant ideas deserve to be taught and exhibited always as part of history this painstaking labor shouldn't be forgotten. As always you deserve more than like 🌷👏

[@andrewtongue7084]

Phenomenal feat of engineering. Sadly, this type of international co-operation seems to no longer be apparent; this is how far we, as nations, have retreated back behind our respective borders, & in effect, shut the door. I have said this on countless occasions before. The Twentieth Century citizenry of the globe were the greatest - after those of the ancient world. How small in mind & stature we have become... Thank you so much for this particular episode.

[@fanfam]

It's not because of us people of the nation. It's because of the greed of power and control with money as their tool by our socalled leaders in an endless cyclus of war, rest and inflation. We the people will stand tall with all of humanity. Never forget it's not us.

[@andrewtongue7084]

& I agree, fanfam - this is a global issue concerning those in power, not the ordinary citizenry; it has always been thus.

[@emilyderry5466]

I can't help but wonder what Rameses II would have made of all of this.... it was an amazing feat of engineering really...

[@tonoxavier9718]

In 1969, we Chinese were suffering from the horrendous Culture Revolution.Countless ancient monuments and sculptures were demolished and damaged.That was a real purgatory in human history.

[@starcrib]

China is the extinction level events- *[ for themselves ]...Sadly . 👥️👥️👥️🎬😢

[@narmar8449]

Chinese people sucks. Greedy!!

[@starcrib]

When i went to the monuments in 2022: I had this documentary as existing knowledge - it made the trek even more spectacular - given the high probability that these magnificent temples escaped total water immersion , and eventually erosion into nothingness- they survived with the engineering feats of the Mid 20th Century Technology. Future-Past Never Looked So Good. 🌿🌐🌿

[@mariakelly90210]

This is an amazing documentary. It's astonishing that they were able to save these ancient Egyptian monuments. Let's give everyone who worked on this incredible project a big round of applause, everybody!

[@johnfarrelly4753]

I started watching or should i say reading about the move in Look Magazine, I followed it through arti cles in Look and Nat Geo all through high school and college. i was lucky in that my parents subscribed to both Look and Life magazine and of course 4 daily newspapers on my Dad's salary as a truck driver for a department store. they opened the world of great things to me, I subscribed to Nat Geo for 60 years, my son became enthralled by archeology and stories of saving antiquity, Now he has a 13 year old daughter who hasn't learned at thing about it, even though she has access to Nat'Geo. i told her that she isn't related to her dad and me, learn something that is important to history.

[@luxeford547]

My mother dated a man who was a part of the many teams involved in the moving of the Abu Simbel temple. At nine, I was already an ancient Egypt nut, but what a joy it was scouring his library and reading all the books on Egyptian history and hearing him narrate the slideshow of pictures he had taken. Apparently the saws used were made of Swedish steel, because it was the best.

[@marieton]

He is not your father

[@joepaullawncare7222]

Your mom dated many men

[@ellenmadsen7308]

A French woman, Christian’s Desroches, an Egyptologist, was the total impetus of this project. If not for her tenacity, Abu Simbel would no longer exist.

[@robadkins2304]

Empress of the Nile by Lynne Olson is a well written account of Christiane Desroches-Nobkecourt life.

[@marieton]

This was an incredible project. If the can see from the other word the world world the left behind. Ramsey would be one one proud ki king bossing to other Kings from other places .

[@paco7992]

Just to get the hundreds of engineers ego's all working together is as amazing as the move itself! Is there some sort of plaque that will stand the test of time that explains what has been done to educate far future generations that these things have been moved (and altered) from their original locations? Like a Rosetta stone?

[@brendabrass2715]

To see it now it looks as if it were always situated there. The amount of water in the new Lake Nasser was so massive, it changed the rotation of the earth.

[@paulfrancis8836]

Engineers have to be a little crazy to overcome what others perceive as obstacles.

[@kaboom-zf2bl]

ahh yes I remember when this was all over the various news places ... time nat geo a few tv shows like david suzuki etc ... bloody collosal job it was ...

[@karaDee2363]

I remember seeing this monumental engineering marvel in photographic detail in the national geographic magazines at my aunt and uncle's house, it was so fascinating and is what got me hooked on ancient Egypt... It's too bad this video documentary did not use the photographs national geographic took of them dismantling and reassembling the Temple..

[@Simmer1983]

We are still baffled by how the old Egyptians build the pyramids but I think in return they also would be impressed by this achievement of the modern world.

[@pagalmasala]

My late grandpa who traveled to Cairo in the 70s, told me that “one of those statues at Abu Simbel looks like that ol fella got bored and left….and forgot to take his butt and legs with him.” 😂😂

[@Ableten]

Another quality documentary but why the excessive truck horn transitions?

[@natasjadirken5633]

Yes!! They'd startle me over and over again!

[@joeblogh2340]

I think Monster Moves was a tv show on Nat Geo and that was their little transition between scenes. I would guess, having watched other National Geographic tv shows that do the same silly thing.

[@johnjasperguce4125]

Good episode..wish i can visit egypt...2 problems...budget and covid😔😔Hard to travel indeed not like in the past much easy.

[@Funmedia101]

One of the best video i've ever seen.

[@ParanormalVibes]

We are amazed how they made these structures yet we move the whole structure to a new location …. Thousands years later no one will know it has been moved from its original location or so we think

[@epiphilosophy]

"what they must do is clean the oily residue between Rameses's ears" 26:20

[@nitish31ful]

How was second statue destroyed?

[@andrealee8796]

Patrick Star; Let's take Abu Simbel and push it somewhere else!

[@mariakelly90210]

It turns out Patrick had the right idea.

[@Chris.Davies]

4:36 - Rectangular doorway and circular light shape. The graphics here are like a school student's!

[@jhny95]

Unbelivable !

[@hannahbrown2728]

Really wish they had taken the time to remove the random truck horns that were probably around old commercial cuts.

[@vito9674]

Excuse me , BUT MT RUSHMORE are NOT only statues as was said in this Doc ! It was carved out of a Granite Mountain !

[@NiekEdeling]

If the sun would'nt have been alligned... they could have moved the sun 🙂

[@queencleo1151]

Why in the world didn't they divert the river? In Dubai we see a palm-tree design of man-made islands in the middle of the sea...!

[@natasjadirken5633]

Because they were building a dam, and the Nile needed to rise 60 meters to fill the reservoir. So relocating the Nile was not even an issue.

[@Dan-xx5jq]

I wish I had learned this in history at school instead of Henry Vlll and his 9 wives.

[@mariakelly90210]

Henry VIII had 6 wives, Dan. Do your research!

[@JCO2002]

Great stuff. But I have to note that as long as the corridor was level and pointing anywhere between about 25 deg north or south of due east, the sun would shine in at sunrise twice a year. It just happened to be that alignment and those days when it was constructed. If had been on the two equinoxes, then you could say it was intentional.

[@bibonagy]

What I hate in Egypt is they they’re sooo aggressive when asking tips

[@warriordog4094]

if you notice the Abu Simbel Temple, is not the same technology as the pyramids ....

[@mahametwaly1664]

Thanx

[@stephenbrinckerhoff3510]

I remember this happening and the troubles they had with the engineering to turn it into a 3D jigsaw puzzle. Makes you wonder, if it was so difficult to move it with all our modern knowledge and machinery and engineering improvements, how the heck did they build it thousands of years ago?

[@mariakelly90210]

Ancient Alien Theorists say "Haven't you ever watched our show?" 😉🤦

[@stephenbrinckerhoff3510]

@@mariakelly90210 Yes. but I don't subscribe to theories. Just facts, please.

[@shakeelali20]

@@stephenbrinckerhoff3510 Bronze tools, well fed and paid Egyptian labourers and plenty of time. Those are what the facts indicate at sites like Abu Simbel, Giza, Karnak etc.

[@stephenbrinckerhoff3510]

@@shakeelali20 Weak response. How could they move and cut stone that is harder than most and weigh so much that we cannot do it , even though being "more superior" in technology?

[@shakeelali20]

@@stephenbrinckerhoff3510 We literally can do it. Countless channels with actual historians and archaeologists have redone experiments showing its possible with enough TIME. People seem to forget, efficiency and return on investment wasn't a concept when your God-King tells you to build a shiny new monument. Calling something with mountain's of evidence 'weak' simply because you refuse to acknowledge or believe it shows you're disingenuous and set in your beliefs. Modern tools make things like carving granite and lifting 30tonne obelisks a breeze, because we do it quickly. The Egyptians did it too. They just had a tonne more man and animal power and time.

[@vpking77]

I have been to both Philae and Abu Simbel. If you didn't know they were moved you would have thought they stood in the exact spot for thousands of years. I wonder if the dam would have been built today. It was needed but they might have used a different method so the ancient temples didn't have to be moved. There is equipment and technology that exists today that didn't in 1964. Egypt is a marvel that everyone should visit. A civilization as advanced that it is hard to believe it existed. They still don't know how they pyramids were constructed with such accuracy using primitive tools to measure and fit the blocks.

[@Chris.Davies]

And yet according to the LAHT crowd, we can't even move a 1,000 ton block in 2022. This when the world's largest mobile crane which can be driven on the road has a lifting capacity of 1,200 tons, and the world's largest crane can lift 20,000 tons.

[@tihzho]

11:06 Elvis!

[@sonnyeast3862]

If you want to see Egyptian artifacts, they’re in London -not Egypt, ironically!

[@rayyanez3527]

ALL OF THEM !!!???????? ..... RIGHT!!!!🙄

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

Actually the artifacts of Egyptian civilization and artistry are scattered widely around the world in addition to the very large amounts still in Egypt. Fortunately!!! That way they are widely available for learned study and their chances of survival for future generations are infinitely better than say the Buddhas of Bamiyan or the monuments of Palmyra. There will always be nutters in the world. The least we can do is try to limit the effects of their delusions.

[@mariakelly90210]

When did Abu Simbel get moved to London?

[@JohnICGomes]

6:07 someone seem to have vandalized the statue with carved word - Hameen

[@mikejones-go8vz]

The animated truck is annoying

[@claudebentley8347]

This is another version of man landing on the moon !

[@capbaby75]

What's up with these porn ads in the comments.... Jeeze!

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

They make money for KZbin so no chance in Hades that they'll ever be automatically expunged from these sites. Just hit the 'Report" button every time you see them. A thankless exercise but every little bit helps.

[@mariakelly90210]

I know! I just reported it.

[@Floyd-ow6vf]

so let me get this straight ,Egypt builds a big dam that could destroy many century's of history and then cry for help --now they are guardians of ancient Egypt with a loony egyptoligist called Zahi Hawass owning and running the show now.i just shake my head in disbelief

[@manlyphal959]

Surely Aliens had to have moved it haha

[@taniekawest3151]

These folks destroyed ancient Egypt Nubian heritage while building the Aswan high dam this was not a victory but a pride move which flooded and displaced ancient nubia

[@farsanaashraf950]

🎉

[@jaybee9269]

How am I just hearing about this.

[@fanfam]

Living under a stone?

[@ekm4881]

They should have diverted R.Nile instead

[@Paul-tw9ze]

Thanks modern human for destroying something greater than your mind can comprehend

[@mariakelly90210]

Seriously? WTH are you talking about?

[@wayneallen9192]

Ancient Egypt... Sounds like yet another Pyramid scheme to me...🤣

[@sonnyeast3862]

These sites were looted over 10,000 years ago, maybe that’s why we lost so much sacred ancient knowledge perhaps.

[@urbanurchin5930]

Well...that would be tough to loot them - that far back - since they were only constructed about 3200 years ago.....exaggeration much ??

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

BS, ole son. These temples were carved approximately 3,200 years ago. Take your nutcase theories along to your next psychiatrist's appointment!

[@Chris.Davies]

18:11 - Continuously add water and an appropriate cutting compound, you muppets! I know people aren't very smart, but you have to actually use your brain when facing challenges. The world was built by humans who said "There must be an easier way."

[@UnitSe7en]

Not on sandstone you nimrod.

[@eggbert191]

One of the biggest crimes against the ancients in history. The alignments with the stars and sun are no longer the same and it's in a man made mountain. Absolutely shameful

[@syndieb4029]

So what were they supposed to do let it disappear beneath the waters?

[@mariakelly90210]

No it wasn't a crime. Quite the opposite, as a matter of fact.

[@starcrib]

Look ☝🏻- Another hillbilly with an Opinion.

[@fanfam]

It's a crime yes. The dam should not gave been build. But remember we are maybe the first in history of humanity we "care" a little bit about history in the way we do by rebuilding.

[@dakotashea3561]

Oh my god, they're going to destroy these monuments and the ancient astronomical alignments held between them and the skies... let's just destroy history

[@Nozylatten]

Water would anyway.

[@eggbert191]

@@Nozylatten by a modern man made dam

[@theoztreecrasher2647]

@@eggbert191 and Dakota Shea ... And the cranks are onto their keyboards even before the opening credits have rolled let alone before they have watched the video. The temples were re-assembled high and dry out of the way of the dam's waters (and with measures taken against salt migration damage - a problem from ancient times!) in as exact a position to the same alignments as before as the science of the times allowed. Thus allowing the illumination of the 3 statues on the twice yearly cycle as intended by the ancient architects. It should be noted that, because of the accumulated drift of the Tropic of Cancer due to Earth's axial precession over the intervening 3,200-odd years, the actual dates of those events must be different now than when the temple was built anyhow!

[@UnitSe7en]

@@eggbert191 Get some fucking perspective.

[@Isabella-nh5dm]

That's what people do and they do it well. Communist China, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Qhmer Rouge, Greece, Egypt, Africa. The list of destruction of historical sites is endless.

[@jerrymcdaniel4539]

Is the narrator Captain Jack Sparrow?

[@mariakelly90210]

No, it's definitely not Johnny Depp.

[@stev838]

Willful destruction. What else that remains below 30 yards of water. Put there on purpose Odd how you left that out

[@mariakelly90210]

WTH are you talking about?

[@stev838]

@@mariakelly90210 the monuments were moved before investigating the areas below A dam was put in and the area was flooded. In the sixties

[@p8k518]

SHAME!!!

[@VaranusVideos]

"They've lasted thousands and thousands of years and are in great shape".."let's cut them up to preserve them!!!" Something fishy going on

[@rayyanez3527]

Did U !??? EVEN !!!!!🙄 Bother! To Even WATCHED IT!??????? Its Abou!!!!!🤯t WHY ???????!

[@VaranusVideos]

@@rayyanez3527 hahaa nope just responded to the picture... watching now relax hahaa

[@mariakelly90210]

@@VaranusVideos Oh shut the hell up.

[@mariakelly90210]

@@VaranusVideos Oh shut the hell up, troll.

[@다미최-w5b]

saved not to save

[@collinsoconnor5843]

This is a bad idea. You should just let them Bai Lan.

[@mariakelly90210]

WTH are you talking about?

[@speakupriseup4549]

What was the point of this, just making a video of recreating something that was accomplished on a vastly greater scale 50 years ago?

[@mariakelly90210]

Educational.

[@ssherrierable]

That monument should have been left alone right where it was. If god wanted it moved than he’d move it himself. Nature needs to take its course.

[@frederickbays405]

but nature had nothing to do with this. It was humans who built the dam to gt power so that more humans could live there. Before this the valley could support maybe 9M and there was already more then that in the valley If humans would just stop the belief system BS and stop breeding until pop dropped below 9M in valley then it would be alright to take dam down and let nature be again. This is true WW. There are just too many humans on Ma Terra

[@h.r.hufnstuf4171]

sorry but these monuments have nothing to do with your god, not his to move.

[@frederickbays405]

@@h.r.hufnstuf4171 My god that shows u how little u know of me I am The Great Gpd Fred hear my words and tremble I am the only god u will have none before me Sounds kind of dumb doesnt it B/c it is for there r no god(s) just made up myths

[@h.r.hufnstuf4171]

@@frederickbays405 on some good meth im gonna guess

[@frederickbays405]

@@h.r.hufnstuf4171 No gave up doing Methedrine and morphine in 1981 when I found My Love Gt hook on it while in VN 1970 Working 20 to 24 hr a day for 309 days U need the help to do what u were doing The Meth was to keep u awake so u could do what u were doing and the morphine was to make it so u didnt care what u were doing Only way most of us made it through that dirty little war

[@swim2kill]

Aliens taught the modern engineers how to cut and move the temple. The same aliens who taught the ancient Egyptians how to build the temple lol