This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of UNESCO's World Heritage Convention The purpose of the convention is to promote and initiate international cooperation with member states to protect cultural and natural heritage for and transmit it to future generations. But how did this convention come into force and what was the driving reason behind it?
According to UNESCO, the term "World Heritage" refers to 'the designation for places on Earth that are of outstanding universal value to humanity and as such, have been inscribed on the World Heritage List to be protected for future generations to appreciate and enjoy.' (UNESCO World Heritage Convention Official Website).
This article examines UNESCO's efforts to save Abu Simbel temples from being submerged under the new water level of the Nile after the construction of the Aswan High Dam and how this international salvage campaign led to the adaptation of UNESCO's World Heritage Convention.
Located in Aswan, ancient Lower Nubia (in between Egyptian and Sudanese borders), the Abu Simbel temples consist of two rock-cut temples carved out of a sandstone cliff, and was completed in 1244 BCE. The temples were constructed during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II (ca 1279 - 1213 BCE) as a tribute to himself and his queen Nefertari, as well as a symbol of his victory over the Hittite Empire in the Battle of Kadesh (1275 BCE).
The grand temple is 30 meters high and 35 meters long and is fronted by four colossal statues of Ramesses II The exterior of the grand temple also features smaller statues of Ramesses himself defeating his enemies, along with his family members, and Egyptian gods including a statue of Ra-Horakhty right above the entrance. The interior of the temple welcomes visitors with four Osirian pillars and a hall that leads to a room with another four sitting figures of Ptah, Amon-Ra, Ra-Horakhty, and Ramesses II.
The smaller temple is located 150 meters north of the grand temple, and was built for Queen Nefertari, and dedicated to the goddess Hathor. The temple stands 12 meters high and features six colossal statues: four honoring Ramesses II and two honoring the Queen. After entering the temple, visitors are greeted by six Hathorian pillars, graffiti showing offerings to the deities of the temple, and a small sanctuary.
As a consequence of industrialization, the Nile Valley was threatened by environmental disasters, and the temples at Abu Simbel were at risk of being submerged. After gaining independence from Britain in the 20th century, the Egyptian government constructed a high dam in Aswan, known as the Aswan High Dam, to regulate the Nile River in order to produce electricity, expand agriculture, and jumpstart industrialization to speed up Egypt's modernization. The Aswan High Dam was constructed between 1960 and 1971, sadly without fully evaluating its consequences. As the dam was being built, an artificial lake called Lake Nasser threatened to drown Abu Simbel temples and numerous ancient Nubian monuments, which had the potential of causing irreversible damage. It was highly likely that the lake would dissolve the sandstone structure of the temples, as well as the Nubian sites close by, which would result in the destruction of both the Egyptian and the Nubian heritage in the area.
To prevent this, three months after the Dam's construction, Egyptian and Sudanese officials reached out to UNESCO to rescue the monuments from being destroyed. A large-scale intervention called the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia (1959-1980) was initiated with a budget of over $40 million and a team of 2000 scientists, engineers, and technicians to safeguard Nubian monuments, including the Abu Simbel temples. To be able to relocate the Abu Simbel temples, the statues were cut into 16.000 blocks and moved 280 meters inland and 65 meters above their original location. This effort was made over the course of five years (1963-1968).
The campaign included over 40 archaeological missions to rescue Nubian monuments which were then relocated, documented, and conserved. Four temples ((Aksha, the Horus temple from settlement at Buhen, the temples dedicated to Dedwen and Sensuret III from inside the ancient fortresses Semna East and Semna West)) are exhibited in the garden of the national antiquities museum in Khartoum, Sudan and four other smaller temples as well as artifacts were donated to countries participating in the salvage. Today, Nubian artifacts can be found across the borders of Egypt and Sudan at museums such as the Uppsala University Museum Gustavianum, the British Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.
The campaign's success has sparked a new desire to protect and save cultural heritage threatened by urbanization, industrialization, environmental disasters, climate change, and armed conflict. These concerns led to the adaptation of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention in 1972. Participating nations must now contribute to the protection of sites included on the World Heritage List so that they can be handed down to future generations.
Text: Ece Karakas. MENAM Archaeology. Copyright 2022.
Images:
[1] Wikimedia Commons
[2] Wikimedia Commons
[3] Per-Olof Andersson, Wikimedia Commons
[4] Zurek, Wikimedia Commons
Further reading:
Bard, Kathyrn A. (2015) An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell.
Hassan, Fekri A. (2007) 'The Aswan Dam and the International Rescue Nubia Campaign', The African Archaeological Review 24(3/4), pp. 73-94.
Mikhail, Alan. (ed.). (2012) Water on Sand: Environmental Histories of the Middle East and North Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
UNESCO World Heritage Convention Official Webpage: https://whc.unesco.org (Accessed: November 24th, 2022)
Wienberg, Jes. (2021) Heritopia: World Heritage and Modernity. Lund: Lund University Press.
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