Egyptian temple Debod, as gifts to nations that had contributed to the preservation effort. Nevertheless, several other temples vanished beneath the lake. Today there are dozens of sites with substantial temple remains, although many more once existed, and none of the major temples in Lower or Middle Egypt are well preserved. Those that are well preserved, such as Karnak, Luxor, and Abu Simbel, draw tourists from around the world and are therefore a key attraction for the Egyptian tourist industry, which is a major sector of the Egyptian economy. Three temple sites—Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis, Memphis and its Necropolis, and the
Abu Simbel agricultural land the entire population now depends on tourism. Since the turn of the millennium, various projects are underway with the goal of making the elevated desert regions fertile using water from the lake. Abu Simbel Abu Simbel (also Abu Simbal, Ebsambul or Isambul; or ) is a village in the Egyptian part of Nubia, about 240 kilometers southwest of Aswan and near the border with Sudan. As of 2012, it has about 2600 inhabitants. It is best known as the site of the Abu Simbel temples. The name Abu Simbel is European, a cacography of the Arabic "Abu Sunbul",