The temple was situated on the west bank of the
Nile River, in
Nubia, and was originally built around 30 BC during the early
Roman era. While the temple was constructed in
Augustus's reign, it was never finished. The temple was a tribute to
Mandulis (Merul), a Lower Nubian sun god. The temple is 76 m long and 22 m wide in dimension. While the structure dates to the Roman period, it features many fine reliefs such as "a fine carving of Horus emerging from reeds on the inner curtain wall" of the temple. From Kalabsha's "sanctuary chambers, a staircase leads up to the roof of the temple" where one can see a splendid view of the temple itself and the
sacred lake. Several historical records were inscribed on the temple walls of Kalabsha such as "a long inscription carved by the Roman Governor Aurelius Besarion in AD 250, forbidding pigs in the temple" as well as an inscription of "the Nubian king
Silko, carved during the 5th century and recording his victory over the
Blemmyes and a picture of him dressed as a Roman soldier on horseback." Silko was the Christian king of the Nubian kingdom of
Nobatia. When
Christianity was introduced to
Egypt, the temple was used as a church. In 1819 the traveller
Joseph de Senkowsky mentioned a variety of paintings depicting Christian saints, among them
John the Baptist.
Movement , given as part of the
International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia Following the
Egyptian revolution of 1952 the new Egyptian regime began planning the construction of the
Aswan High Dam at the
Nile's first cataract (shallow rapids). The building of the dam was to result in the creation of
Lake Nasser, which would submerge the banks of the Nile along its entire 479 km (298 mi) length south of the dam – flooding the entire area of historical Lower Nubia, a region that was home to 22 critical historical sites, including Kalabsha. After UNESCO formally launched a campaign on 8 March 1960 to save the Nubian monuments
West Germany decided that rather than provide money to the campaign as a whole it would instead directly fund and organize the relocation of Kalabsha. Germany's interest in making a significant contribution stemmed from its
Egyptological heritage, including Lepsius' milestone work
Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien, as more specifically the work of
Franz Christian Gau who had documented
Kalabsha as early as 1819. The country was also keen to refurbish Germany's reputation after the events of World War II. Hochtief had prior experience working in Egypt. During the summer of 1960 engineers from Hochtief and the archaeologists began surveying the site in detail in order to determine the best way to undertake the work. was uniquely numbered and its original position recorded before it was cut free and loaded onto a barge. In the process, the remaining Christian wall paintings were destroyed. The blocks were then conveyed by barge to the new location called Khor Ingi, later renamed
New Kalabsha to the north, a journey that took four hours one way. Khor Ingi is located approximately one kilometre north of the High Dam. The temple of Kalabsha was the largest free-standing temple of Egyptian Nubia (after
Abu Simbel, which was
rock-cut, not free-standing) to be moved and erected at a new site. In 1971, Egypt gave one of the temple's gates to the Federal Republic of Germany out of gratitude for Germany’s participation in the rescue of the Nubian temples. Since 1977 the gate has been located in the annex of Berlin's Egyptian Museum in Berlin-Charlottenburg. The gate will be moved to become the monumental entrance to the fourth wing of the
Pergamon Museum in Berlin, which is currently, as of 2023, being constructed. ==Gallery of images==