New Kalabsha, an open air museum for the relocated archaeological structures from ancient Talmis (Kalabsha), is a promontory near Aswan, southern Egypt, which houses several ancient Egyptian and Nubian monuments moved from their original sites in Lower Nubia. These relocations took place during the mid-20th century to protect them from inundation by Lake Nasser, which was created when the Aswan Dam was built. The name “New Kalabsha” distinguishes this safe-site as the new home for structures formerly located at Old Kalabsha or Bab al-Kalabsha (Roman Talmis) and other Nubian sites now submerged.
The site of New Kalabsha was conceived during the UNESCO-sponsored International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, initiated when the construction of the Aswan High Dam threatened to submerge an immense stretch of Nubia beneath the rising waters of Lake Nasser. Engineers and archaeologists selected a high granite outcrop on the western shore, about 50 kilometres south of Aswan, and approx. 1.5 kilometers south-west of the Aswan Dam, as the principal relocation zone for several monuments from different periods and sites. When the filling of Lake Nasser began, this elevated promontory gradually became encircled by water, transforming it into an island accessible only by boat.
The island’s configuration was deliberately reinforced to provide stability for the re-erected temples, which were set in landscaped terraces to approximate their original river Nile orientation. The surrounding lake isolates the site visually and geographically, creating a striking setting reminiscent of the temples’ ancient riverside contexts, yet entirely modern in its engineered protection. New Kalabsha thus represents both an archaeological preservation achievement and a reshaped landscape born of large-scale hydrological intervention—an example of how twentieth-century environmental change redefined the geography of ancient monuments in Nubia.
circa 1960 CE
The complex of New Kalabsha brings together monuments spanning from the New Kingdom through the Roman period, dominated by the great Temple of Kalabsha, originally built under emperor Augustus and dedicated to the Nubian sun god Mandulis. Its sandstone pylons and courts rise prominently above the waterline, the temple’s axial alignment maintained almost exactly as it had been at ancient Talmis. Around it are grouped several smaller but historically rich structures: the Ramesside rock-cut temple of Beit el-Wali, notable for its reliefs showing Ramesses II’s campaigns in Nubia; the partially rock-cut temple of Gerf Hussein, once dedicated to Ptah and Ramesses II, whose freestanding portions were saved while the inner sanctuary lies submerged beneath Lake Nasser; and the small, graceful Roman-period Kiosk of Qertassi, with its Hathor-headed capitals and papyrus-form columns.
Scattered among these are chapels and shrines such as that of Dedwen, a Nubian serpent deity, and a small Ptolemaic chapel attributed to Ptolemy IX. The island also preserves reused blocks, stelae, and inscriptions relocated from various Nubian sites, including commemorative stelae of Seti I and Psamtik II. The overall arrangement preserves something of the original spatial logic of the Nile temples: monumental approaches from the water, axial gateways leading to sanctuaries, and subsidiary shrines radiating around a central focus. Yet the experience of the site today is defined by its setting—temples of sandstone standing against the vast, reflective expanse of Lake Nasser, their survival and relocation testifying to both the endurance of ancient architecture and the profound reshaping of Nubia’s physical and cultural landscape in the twentieth century.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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