Abu Simbel temples The temple was forgotten until 1813, when Swiss orientalist Jean-Louis Burckhardt found the top frieze of the main temple. Burckhardt talked about his discovery with Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni, who travelled to the site, but was unable to dig out an entry to the temple. Belzoni returned in 1817, this time succeeding in his attempt to enter the complex. A detailed early description of the temples, together with contemporaneous line drawings, can be found in Edward William Lane's "Description of Egypt" (1825–1828). In 1959, an international donations campaign to save the monuments of Nubia began: the southernmost relics of this
Kazimierz Michałowski were discovered under the "church of the columns". The second building based on the cruciform plan was also explored as well as a mosque which turned out to be erected on a former royal palace and not (as previously assumed) on a Christian temple. Polish archaeologists discovered also a baptistery. Since 1966 a Polish mission was performing parallel prehistoric excavations in the vicinity the village of Gaddar. Professor Michałowski did not excavate in Abu Simbel but along with a team of Polish archaeologists he took part in the salvaging of rock temples of Pharaoh Ramesses II, which were at risk