The Executive Board of UNESCO studied a report prepared by a group of international experts. The report tackled the feasibility to rescue the monuments of Nubia, and UNESCO issued an important appeal to the world to share the financial and technical assistance to save the monuments of Nubia. This call was issued on 8th March 1960, and it was the beginning of an unprecedented project in history. There were many difficulties: archaeologists were racing the clock to conduct the excavations that took place in unfavorable climatic conditions, and they had to overcome this in some form or another. There were several large-scale projects whose study was required in order to save the monuments and to anticipate any engineering problems that might appear later.

The efforts of the international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia continued nearly twenty years, but with the passage of time its objectives were achieved. Nearly forty archaeological missions from different world countries conducted the scientific studies of archaeological sites; nearly twenty-two monuments were disassembled and moved to new locations.