Rescuing the Nile’s Sunken Temple on SBS – Operation Philae. At the end of the 1970s, one of the largest Pharaonic sites in Egypt risked being swallowed up by the sea.
It was thus ‘moved’ to an artificial island made to resemble the original – Philae.
This film was made for the 40th anniversary of this rescue led by UNESCO. It will attempt to show how the ruins looked before the waters’ rise by precisely reconstructing them in 3D and 4K. Discover the sanctuary in all its ancient glory.
Thanks to comparative archaeology – using images of monuments’ remains from the same period – it is now possible to imagine how even heavily damaged buildings looked like at the time down to the most minute of details – such as the colours and pigments of the bas-reliefs.
Philae means ‘Island of the End’. It has also become the symbol of the resistance and then fall of the ancient Egyptian culture against Christianity, which transformed its temples into churches. This is also where the last written hieroglyphics remain.
Rescuing The Nile’s Sunken Temple – Premiere – Sunday, 21 May at 8.30pm on SBS and SBS on Demand
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