Abu Simbel is named after Gamal Abdel Nasser, Egyptian president from 1954 to 1970. At the time of Ramses II. the southern border of the realm of the Pharaohs was located near the two cataracts. The construction of the Abu Simbel temple compound there was meant to demonstrate the power and eternal supremacy of Egypt with respect to the tributary Nubia. The new dam flooded all of Lower Nubia, the inhabitants became homeless and were mostly resettled in the areas of Aswan and Kom Ombo. Only in Abu Simbel, a new village developed with hotel and airport. Due to a lack of
Silvio Curto the Abu Simbel temples which were threatened by the building of the Aswan High Dam. Italy received as a gift the small temple of Ellesyia, originally built by Thutmose III for the god Horus, which was rebuilt by Curto in 1970 inside the Museo Egizio in Turin, where it still is.<br> From 1964 to 1989 he taught Egyptology at the University of Turin. He also contributed to various Egyptian collections throughout Italy, such as renovating the one in the Museo Civico Archeologico of Bologna in 1961 and co-founding the Egyptian Museum of Milan in 1972. Curto died on September 24,