The Egyptian Minister of Culture, who will always be remembered in history as one who led a campaign, with the participation of UNESCO, to save monuments of Nubia from flooding, and to move temples before water level rose as a result of the construction of High Dam.
After decision to establish High Dam, political leadership was at time in a great dilemma. It could not give up people's hope for prosperity after 1952 revolution, and it could not neglect civilization, and confusion continued until the end of 1958, when state began to take serious steps to establish the dam amid only recording all monuments of Nubia and its temples and realize it might be drowning.
While everyone was busy recording the 17 temples of Nubia and their unparalleled artifacts and pharaonic statues, Okasha took it upon himself to think and research for any mechanism through which antiquities could be saved
He began to think seriously about looking for what could be of help, knowing that the state's financial capabilities would not be able to bear the cost of implementing this idea, so he presented it to UNESCO, proposing the formation of an international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia, and it was recieved positively. President Gamal Abdel Nasser accepted the proposal, and they agreed that Egypt would share a third of the project's costs.
After an initiative from Egypt, UNESCO issued an international appeal for the largest antiquities rescue operation in history. More than forty countries participated in this process, they provided either financial assistance or practical participation.
The UNESCO Executive Board did a report by a group of international experts, and the topic revolved around the feasibility of saving the monuments of Nubia, and then the UNESCO issued an important call to the world for financial and technical participation to save the monuments of Nubia. This appeal was issued on March 8, 1960, and was the beginning of an unprecedented project in history.
Dr. Okasha was not only satisfied with the international call, but he sent an antiquities exhibition to Belgium that toured many European countries and traveled an exhibition on Tutankhamun to the United States of America.
