Eight years ago Chronicle began recording the rescue of the last and most important Egyptian temple from the swirling waters of the Aswan High Dam. The first of the monuments rescued was the celebrated Abu Simbel. The Ptolemaic temples of Isis and Trajan's Kiosk, dating from 350 BC, and built on the now submerged island of Philae, are the last. Each stone has been catalogued and moved to dry land for renovation. Now they have been reassembled on an exact replica of their original site.
The British people contributed to the venture through the proceeds of the Tutankhamun exhibition, and Royal Navy divers helped dismantle the stonework. The task is now complete and the temples can be seen as intended - as the 'Pearl of Egypt.'
Introduced by Erik de Mauny
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