Ancient temples saved from destruction by the United Nations have been reopened to the public for the first time in 40 years. The antiquities range from the Beit el-Wali temple, built more than 2,700 years ago during the reign of Ramses II, to the ruins of the Kalabsha temple from the 18th dynasty that ruled Egypt from 1580 B.C. to 1314 B.C.
THESE AND OTHER MASTERPIECES were threatened by flooding from the Aswan Dam some 400 miles south of Cairo. They were saved by a $3.5 million relocation grant from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The sites can now be seen on Kalabsha Island in Lake Nasser, which was created behind the dam.
Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt’s Surpeme Council of Antiquities, said Monday the island had been fitted with lights so the ancient treasures can be viewed at night. Hawass said they include statues from Jurf Hussein, a temple also built during the Ramses II period that could not be relocated from the dam site.
The 366-foot-high Aswan Dam has 17 times as much sand and stone as the greatest pyramid at Giza and once supplied as much as 80 percent of Egypt’s electricity.
NEW FACILITIES
When it opened in 1971, the project dislodged tens of thousands of Nubians who had to leave flooded lands.
InsertArt(1729567)It also rendered Nile Valley farmland less fertile, because the Nile’s rich silt is accumulating in the reservoir instead of on the farms.
Today, new facilities have taken over much of Egypt’s electric production, and the dam only supplies 20 percent of the national output.
Before the dam’s construction, the Nile Valley was constantly parched or flooded. To regulate the flow, President Gamal Abdel Nasser advocated a giant dam. But the United States and Britain blocked World Bank funding.
Nasser portrayed the refusal as part of a Western conspiracy to hold back Egypt. In 1956, he nationalized the Suez Canal — a vital passage for oil tankers, military and cargo ships — to earn money for the dam’s construction.
The Soviet Union helped Egypt fund and build the dam. Aswan was opened a year after Nasser’s death in 1970 by President Anwar Sadat, who became a key U.S. ally.© 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
