The Nubian Museum Egypt The area of Nubia is located between Aswan to the North and the city of Debba in Sudan to the South. It is strange that the name Nubia was never mentioned in the ancient Egyptian language and it was first mentioned in the book called Geographica that was written by the Greek historian, Strapon, who visited Nubia in the first century AD. The word Nubia is said to be derived from the word Nebo, or the mines of gold which Nubia was famous for in ancient times. The lands of Nubia remained for thousands of years as the Egyptian gate to Africa. Nubia is mainly divided into two parts: lower Nubia which is located in Egypt and higher Nubia which is located inside the Sudanese borders. Nubian Monuments and the threat of the High Dam: This historical location of Nubia faced a sever challenge when the High Dam was built. All the lands of Nubia were drowned with the river Nile water. However, there were serious efforts exerted by the UNESCO and the Egyptian government to save the treasures of Nubia that included a number of Pharonic temples. Although the building of the High Dam is considered to be the most difficult challenge that faced the area of Nubia, the lands of Nubia were drowned three times before the High Dam. The first time was when the Aswan Dam was built in 1902 that resulted in an increase in the level of the river Nile water which consequently threatened the monuments located in Nubia. The second time was in 1912 while the third time was in 1932. In all of these incidents the monuments of Nubia were listed, recorded, and maps of the exact location of these monuments were scratched. The real challenge occurred when the Egyptian government, headed by the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, decided to build the High Dam in order to provide Egypt with cultivating water and electricity. However, the High Dam caused a constant increase of the level of river Nile water. Therefore, it became vital to exert huge efforts to protect the Nubia monuments from this threat. The efforts of the UNESCO: After an Egyptian initiative, the UNESCO placed an international appeal for the largest operation of relocating monuments in history with more than 40 countries participating in the process through funding or through sending workers to assist the Egyptians in preserving their monuments. The project was named Nubian Rescue Campaign The executive committee of the UNESCO has studied a report that was prepared by international experts. The report mainly discussed the feasibility and importance of saving the monuments in Nubia. As a result, the UNESCO placed its historical international appeal in the 8th of March 1960 to save the monuments of Nubia.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 10:42:50 +0000
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