Stock photography, photos: Temple at Philae - Egypt Stock photos of The temple at Philae near Aswan was nearly lost under water when the high Aswan dam was built in the 1960s. Fortunately the temple was rescued by a joint operation between the Egyptian government and UNESCO. In an engineering feat to rival the ancients the whole island was surrounded with a dam and the inside pumped dry. Then every stone block of the temple complex was labelled and removed later to be assembled, like a giant jigsaw puzzle, on the higher ground of Agilka island. The whole project took ten years and has saved one of Egypt's most beautiful temples from certain destruction. Aswan, Egypt. Photograph: © Robert Burch Click for a larger image and more information Keywords associated with this stock photo: egypt, north africa, egyptian, aswan, temple, philae, ptolemaic, temple of philae, middle east, ptolemaic period