The Nubian salvage campaigns (continued)
At the same time, other missions, more closely concerned with the archaeological sites themselves, offered their support to the major mission. 
Between 1929 and 1934, the height of the dam was raised further, reaching its maximum height of 41.5m. This meant the water would reach as far as the Sudanese border. To avoid serious damage to the monuments of the area, Professor W. Emery, supported by the Egyptian Government, undertook the 'Second Archaeological Survey of Nubia'. Again this was between 1929 and 1934. Other, smaller missions were working simultaneously in the area. But the days of the Nubians’ land were numbered. The creation of the Aswan Dam resulted in changes in irrigation patterns and reduced the problems of the Nile floods, but it did not solve the two problems completely. The fact that Egypt’s population was beginning to spiral exacerbated the situation. In 1954 an international committee of experts concluded that the only solution was to construct a High Dam. A bonus would be the ability of such a dam to provide large amounts of energy to boost the development of local industry. On this basis the Government took the decision to construct the High Dam. "When I was appointed General Director of the Antiquities Department,
the investigations concerning the construction of the High Dam were
already advanced. I naturally felt that it was my immediate duty to
bring to the notice of the responsible authorities the necessity of
considering the fate of the monuments of Nubia, which would be threatened
by submersion as a result of the execution of the project, and to
stress the pressing need of a study of the means of preserving, protecting
and registering, as well as saving what ca be saved of these monuments
both for history and for coming generations. In April 1953, I made
the necessary contact with the Ministry of Public Work regarding this
matter, and steps were at once taken to form a Committee from amongst
the staff of the Department to make a preliminary investigation of
the problem. The Committee immediately set the work and finally presented
a brief report containing the results of its studies... "
"... We have not restricted our investigations to those monuments,
which will be directly affected by the High Dam. We wished that the
registration should be as comprehensive as possible, and include all
the monuments of Nubia, and thus complete any lack found in the previous
publications. The reason for this lies in the fact that all the temples
of Nubia and all the zones containing ancient sites will be covered
by water... It is worthy of note that this report is limited to the
monuments occurring inside the Egyptian zone... The question of the
antiquities which will be covered with the water of the High dam in
the Sudan is thus left for a future opportunity, and we hope that
the necessary steps will be taken to formulate a programme for the
excavation and registration of monuments in that zone, so that the
work in Egypt and Sudan would go together hand by hand"...
"In our country, according to the Antiquities Ordinance, every
excavator has always been, and is still, entitled to fifty per cent
of the objects discovered by him; but this is the only counterpart
we can offer. We don't possess important reserves in our museum which
we could cede; we have no attractive sites like Sakkara to offer as
a favour in return if the finds from an endangered site are insufficient;
furthermore we don't have enough temples and chapels in the threatened
area to allow some of them to be transported to foreign countries.
So the only hope that is left to us, after the United Arab Republic's
offer, lies in the fact that the prehistory, history and archaeology
of the area endangered in our territory are much less know than the
Egyptian Nubia and for this reason might attract scholars to help
us to undertake in the short time available the work of the survey,
prospection, excavation, removal and documentation, necessary to ensure
that at least part of the history of our country- and thus of the
world in general- will be safeguarded for future generations..."
"Work has begun of the Great Aswan Dam. Within five years, the
Middle Valley of the Nile will be turned into a vast lake. Wondrous
structures, ranking among the most magnificent on earth, are in danger
of disappearing beneath the waters. The Dam will bring fertility to
huge stretches of desert; but the opening of new fields to the tractors,
the provision of new sources of power to future factories threatens
to exact a terrible price...." "It is not easy to choose
between a heritage of the past and the present well being of a people,
living in need in the shadow of one of history's most splendid legacies;
it is not easy to choose between temples and crops. I would be sorry
for any man called on to make that choice who could do so without a
feeling of despair; I would be sorry for any man who whatever decision
he might reach, could bear the responsibility for that decision without
a feeling of remorse. It is not surprising, therefore, therefore,
that the governments of the United Arab Republic and Sudan have called
on an international body, on UNESCO, to try to save the threatened
monuments. These monuments, the loss of which may be tragically near,
do not belong solely to the countries who hold them in trust. The
whole world has the right to see them endure"...
"The conservation and protection of works of art and monuments
of history and science in one of the essential tasks laid on Unesco
by its Constitution. The international campaign to save the monuments
of Nubia was the first major operation where this task was accomplished
on a grand scale in practice and not just through recommendations
and conventions. The principle of international cooperation for the
conservation and protection of the world's common cultural heritage
in the form of historical monuments was here applied to a concrete
situation..."
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Check out some of the salvaged sites represented in our collections:
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