Page 18 - Issue 63

Vol.1 Issue 63 January 2024Vol.1 Issue 63, May 2024
«When the UNESCO moved mountains» : The Nubia
campaign preservation or abandonment of the
Egyptian heritage?
In midst of the Cold War tensions, the
world has demonstrated a state of
international solidarity between around fifty
countries in order to preserve the rich
cultural heritage of the Ancient Egyptian
civilization. A civilization that didn’t belong
to any of these countries, who have put
aside their differences to commit to
preserving the heritage of humanity. 50
years after the Nubia Campaign of the
UNESCO, did it really contribute to the
preservation of the historical Egyptian
heritage?
It all began in 1954, during the phase of
modernization led by the President Gamal
Abdel Nasser who ordered the construction
of the Aswan High Dam at the heart of the
Nile Valley. This large-scale project was
intended to fulfill the needs of the growing
population, to sustain electricity and to
increase the irrigated zones around the Nile.
However, despite these benefits, the water
from the man-made Lake Nasser, that
resulting from the construction of the dam.
There were risks of submerging the
Pharaonic and the Greco-Roman temples
and changing the façade of the Nubian
region.
18
ELITE
Kenzy Tamer - First Year student - French Section
As a result, archeologists and intellectuals
around the world did not want the remains
of the pharaonic civilization to be forgotten
and submerged underwater. In April of
1959, the Egyptian and Sudanese
governments issued a request for assistance
to the UNESCO to implement the project.
The director of the UNESCO opened a
campaign to governments, public or private
actors to contribute to this scientific project
technically and financially.
Let’s imagine together if this project wasn’t
created… Imagine the huge cultural and
historical loss… After this campaign, 22
monuments were saved by the UNESCO,
the main actor of this campaign that lasted
approximatively 20 years. The first temple
moved was the temple of Abu Simbel, one
of the most intriguing temples buried in the
sand for millennia.