The UNESCO Rescue: Moving Mountains

In 1960, Egypt faced an impossible choice. President Gamal Abdel Nasser was building the Aswan High Dam — a massive project to tame the Nile's floods and power the country's future. But the dam would create Lake Nasser, one of the biggest man-made lakes on Earth, drowning a 500-kilometer stretch of the Nile Valley. Dozens of ancient temples would vanish — including Abu Simbel, twin temples that Ramesses the Great carved into a cliff over 3,200 years ago.