The temples of Abu Simbel were moved between 1964 and 1968, with the relocation effectively completed and the complex re‑erected at its new, higher site in 1968.

Quick Scoop

  • The relocation was a four‑year project running from 1964 to 1968, undertaken to save the temples from flooding caused by the creation of Lake Nasser after the Aswan High Dam was built.
  • Engineers cut the temples into hundreds of large blocks, some weighing up to about 30 tons, then reassembled them about 65 meters higher and roughly 200 meters further inland on an artificial hill.
  • The new site preserves the original orientation so that the sun still illuminates the sanctuary on the key dates associated with Ramesses II, maintaining the temples’ astronomical and symbolic effects.

In short: when people ask “when was Abu Simbel moved,” the core answer is that the rescue and relocation took place in the mid‑1960s and was finished in 1968, in one of the most ambitious heritage‑saving operations ever attempted.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.