The construction of the Aswan Dam, during Nasser’s presidency in Egypt, was a major regional development, but it was also the setting of a struggle for political influence during the Cold War. It also marked the invention of both emergency archaeology and the concept of World Heritage. 111 meters high, 3.6 km long, the Aswan Dam was essential for those living along the Nile Valley, making it possible to produce crops, fish and electricity, as well as averting devastating floods.

Such goals allowed a proud, but probably still fragile independent state to harness the political will of the Western powers, who were strong on the ground, together with Egypt’s Middle Eastern neighbours and the USSR, which provided major financial support for the works. However, building the dam meant destroying archaeological sites of primary importance from the time of the pharaohs. It became vital to protect them from the rising waters, although that was not allowed to jeopardize the project.

The area round the dam, known as Nubia, was split between Egypt and the Sudan. It had been occupied by several different civilisations, each with its own culture, so contained many archaeological remains. But the temples at Abu Simbel, built by Ramses II and well-known to Western Egyptologists, were a key factor in mobilising international opinion. By the mid-1950s, UNESCO had been made aware of the vulnerability of the Nubian heritage, and European scientists like Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt from the Louvre Museum, Ministers and the governments of both countries established the first international heritage rescue committee, the Nubian campaign, under the auspices of UNESCO. The committee was innovative both in diplomatic terms and in its methodology, favouring a multi-disciplinary, documentary approach which resulted in setting up an unprecedented operation to save and preserve dozens of temples in addition to those of Ramses II. Combining developments in technology, agriculture, and archaeology, as well as being a source of tourism, the Aswan Dam has dramatically changed not only the landscape but also the local people, while being the first time in history that international effort was used to save archaeological treasures.

 

 

Fekri H. A. 2007, « The Aswan High Dam and the International Rescue Nubia Campaign », The African Archaeological Review, Vol. 24, No. 3/4 (September/December 2007), pp. 73-94.

 

Brew J. O. 1961, « Emergency Archaeology: Salvage in Advance of Technological Progress », Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 105, No. 1 (Feb. 28, 1961), pp. 1-10

 

Desroches Noblecourt C. et J. Vercoutter 1981, Un siècle de fouilles françaises en Égypte 1880-1980, Le Caire, IFAO.

 

The Rescue of Nubian Monuments and Sites, Unesco, http://whc.unesco.org/en/activities/173