To mark the 50th anniversary of the historic salvage operation of the Temples of Abu Simbel and the solar alignment phenomenon, the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, H.E. Prof. Khaled El-Enany and their business partner Orascom Investment Holding (OIH), held an exclusive gala dinner event on the 21st to 22nd October, 2018.
Held in front of the spectacular temple entrance, dignitaries from around the world were treated to a guided temple tour, authentic Egyptian hospitality lasting throughout evening, and ending at dawn with the sun’s rays entering the temple’s inner sanctum to light three of four statues – King Ramses II and the deities Amun-Re and Re-Hur-Akhty, leaving the God of Darkness Ptah in shadow.
For this special VIP event, the OIH marketing team tasked us with creating appropriate graphic deliverables, including: invitations, literature, and the required environment artworks.
Background
The majestic temples of Abu Simbel in Aswan, Egypt were built during the time of King Ramses II, in memory of the King and his wife Nefertari. The building of the temples resulted in four, 20-meter-high, colossal statues of Ramses II.
In 1960, the construction of the new Aswan dam started, aiming to control flooding and providing increased water storage for irrigation. This meant that the water level would rise about 60 meters, threatening the temples of Abu Simbel with the sudden possibility of being submerged. A rescue campaign started, initiated by the government of Egypt, UNESCO and archaeologists around the world.
The consortium initiated the bold idea to cut the temples into several blocks and transport them to a new location above water level. It took more than eight years to move the temples using innovative engineering ideas and solutions – all while the water level kept rising.
On 22nd September 1968, the temples were inaugurated at their new location.
