Located near Aswan, the world famous High Dam was an engineering miracle when it was built in the 1960s. Today it provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt and together with the old Aswan Dam built by the British between 1898 and 1902, 6km down river, provides a wonderful view for visitors. The High Dam built between 1960 and 1971 with the help of the Soviet Union, rises 111 meters, is 980 meters thick at the bottom and 40 meters at the top, and stretches 3.6 km across the river.

From the top of the two Mile long High Dam you can gaze across Lake Nasser, the huge reservoir created when it was built, which backs up for nearly 500 km and averages over 10 km wide and 180 meters deep. The creation of Lake Nasser unfortunately, threatened the existence of 23 temples and sanctuaries, including the monuments of Philae Island, which were taken to bits and moved to higher grounds.