Aswan High Dam
When the Nile Was Tamed
For thousands of years, the Nile dictated the rhythm of Egypt. Its annual flood brought life to the fields—and sometimes destruction to the villages along its banks. Kings built canals, measured the river with nilometers, and prayed to the gods for balance. But it was not until the 20th century that the Nile itself was finally harnessed.
The Aswan High Dam, completed in 1970, is one of the great engineering feats of the modern world. Stretching nearly four kilometers across the river, it holds back the waters of the Nile to create Lake Nasser, one of the largest man-made lakes on earth. With it came electricity, steady harvests, and control over a river that had ruled Egypt for millennia.
Experience It
But taming the Nile came at a cost. Entire communities were relocated as their villages vanished beneath the rising lake. Ancient temples—Philae, Kalabsha, Abu Simbel—stood in danger of being swallowed forever. An international rescue effort moved many of them stone by stone to higher ground, preserving treasures that would otherwise have been lost. Still, much remains beneath the waters, hidden from view.
Standing atop the dam today, you look out across Lake Nasser’s endless horizon, the desert swallowed by water. It is a view unlike any in Egypt—both a triumph of human ambition and a reminder of what was sacrificed. The Aswan High Dam is not just concrete and stone. It is the moment when the Nile, once the giver and taker of life, finally bent to human will.
Experience one of the modern wonders of Egypt