Working with the Supreme Council of Antiquities, USAID supports conservation programs that preserve Egypt’s extensive and unique historical sites. USAID is proud to have helped the Government of Egypt achieve the following milestones:

• Groundwater lowering projects at the Luxor and Karnak Temples that saved these world-renowned monuments from major damage;
• Architectural conservation of a unique concentration of monuments in Old Cairo, including the Roman fortress of Babylon, the first mosque in Africa, an important group of Christian churches, and a Jewish synagogue and library;
• Conservation of the third and fourth century monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul, including restoration of the interior of the church at St. Anthony to its 13th-century appearance;
• Conservation of important sites at Bab Zuwayla in medieval Cairo, resulting in revived tourism in the area.
• Restoration of the world’s earliest surviving free-standing masonry building at Abydos, one of Egypt’s most important archaeological sites;
• The building of structures to protect two tombs in the Valley of the Kings from flash floods.