1985 Press Photo Pharaoh Rameses II in Upper Egypt near its border with Sudan

Three gigantic figures of Pharaoh Rameses II and a fragment of a fourth stare down today over a broad lake in Upper Egypt near its border with Sudan. They dwarf the travelers who have journeyed to this remote place 768 miles south of Cairo to see one of ancient Egypt's most awesome pharoanic monuments. From Rameses' time until the 1960s, the temple of Abu Simbel and the adjacent Temple of Hathor greeted the morning sun as it rose over the Nile about 100 miles south of Aswan. Then they were threatened with destruction by flood waters following construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. They were rescued from the flood and moved, piece by piece, to higher ground overlooking Lake Nasser following a worldwide fund campaign to raise the $40 million cost of the relocation.

Photo is dated 1985.

Photo measures 8 x 10.25 inches.