The values we are defending

Evelina Rioukhina, UNECE

Abu Simbel and the Aswan High Dam – the lessons and the story
of a unique international salvage campaign.

Neither man nor nation can exist without sublime ideas
Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Different countries care in different ways about their cultural and environmental heritage. During armed conflicts, the risk of losing them is particularly high. Nations usually try to preserve their magnificent heritage. Unfortunately, history tells a different story. Countries pay a heavy price for destroying their historical relics, for burning their books or dynamiting their churches. Ultimately, nations are empowered only if they protect and cherish their cultural or natural wealth. Sometimes it is very difficult to draw a line between nations that truly care about their historical heritage from those who are merely concerned by the reactions of the international community. Many monuments belonging to the world heritage are saved thanks to projects by the United Nations and other international organisations. Others are brutally demolished and thus lost to humanity forever (see UNS No. 595 on this subject). I would like to describe one of the more controversial of these, which may serve as a lesson for many countries and many generations.

Abu Simbel and the Aswan High Dam

I had dreamt for many years of visiting these places. Both have enthralled me, arousing my curiosity and imagination. The first, because of its historical value and singularity of construction and architectural devices; the second, because of its vast dimension and unique hydraulic engineering performance. I happened to be on a tour with a group from Paris. Among them was an architect from the French Academy of Architecture. We were lucky to have a guide trained in archaeology, so every day was filled with long and impassioned discussions, bringing a special flavor to our tour.

We arrived at Aswan and visited all the sites listed in our programme. I was surprised that the Aswan High Dam was not included and proposed to organize a special visit. The guide tried to dissuade me, saying that it is considered a military site, and that only a limited number of excursions were authorized. I still insisted that I wanted to see the place about which I had heard so much throughout my school years and in which, by a twist of destiny, my family was involved, as it had contributed to a large extent in what was then a product of Soviet-Egyptian cooperation.

I was very excited and proud of this fact. I knew that it was was a miracle of engineering and one of the outstanding constructions of the time. So I talked non-stop about this to the guide and to the French architect as we approached the Big Stella of modern Soviet-architectural style symbolizing the entrance to the Dam.

I noticed that my group was not as enthusiastic as I. I asked them what the matter was. The French architect told me that exactly during the time when I was in the Soviet school and was overwhelmed by the achievement of the Aswan Dam, the topic of discussion in every newspaper and TV programme, he was at the school of architecture in Paris. All these years he heard with horror about the threat to the unique world heritage of Abu Simbel. His family, members of a French architectural organisation, was involved in the international salvage project by UNESCO (France – the lead country) to preserve this historical monument from destruction by the Aswan Dam. It was at this time, that he decided to become an architect and to devote his life to the restoration of historical monuments. This was the first time that he had visited the place, which so impressed him during his school years.

I cannot explain the overwhelming emotions I felt at that moment. Here we were two persons facing each other, two persons from different worlds, having a conversation that would have been unthinkable 30 years ago, each one of us convinced, back then, that his or her values were the correct and noble ones. It is difficult to judge who was right or who was wrong, and perhaps we should have not given so much thought to these issues during our country tour. Nevertheless, we both reflected on the past and how important it is to remember that history can repeat itself, and very often in a twisted turn of events. What really matters, we decided, regardless of political convictions, was the lessons learned in respect of what was being done with our heritage, our environment as well as our responsibility toward future generations.

We came close to the dam and examined the detailed hydraulic plan. I was authorized to take photos for this issue of UN Special. Undoubtedly, this is one of the most outstanding and among the most brilliant solutions in the world of hydraulics. At any rate I know that the former Soviet Union was very proud of it. Near the plan there was a quotation “The construction of the High Dam is a challenge to silent nature”. There was something striking in these words, my enthusiasm disappeared. We walked through the Dam, I did not dare utter a single word nor comment, and we hurried to leave the place. The guide advised me to read some papers, one of which was seriously considered by the United Nations during the International Seminar “Sustainable Flood Prevention” (Berlin, 1999) organised under the auspices jointly of the Economic Commission for Europe, International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe and World Meteorological Organization. The document takes stock of the progress made during the 30 years the Aswan Dam has been exploited, highlighting its negative and positive consequences.

The High Dam added a whole new dimension to life in Egypt, as well as a new environment. The lake is some 500 miles long and at the time it was built, if not now, was the world’s largest artificial lake. For many centuries, people in Egypt suffered from either too little water or too much. Some years there would be drought, and there was not enough water for the crops and everyday use. Other years there was so much water that the great Nile River would flood, destroying the crops and washing away fertile land. The people of Egypt needed to find a way to manage the water from the Nile River so that they had just the right amount all the time.

The answer to these problems was the dam. The dam would need to do three things: control the floods of the Nile River, store the water from the floods so that it could be released at a slower rate, and generate hydroelectric power. The former Soviet Union helped the people of Egypt to design and build the granite dam), which is 3.26 km (2.3 miles) in length, and rises 111 m (364 feet) above the Nile River base. 400 people worked during several years (10 years below, or was it the planning that took several years?) over its construction. The dam was built about 13 km (8 miles) south of the Egyptian city of Aswan, and was named the Aswan High Dam. The ex- Soviet Union also provided the hydroelectric equipment used in the power station. It took ten years to build the dam, at a cost of $1 billion. The dam began operating in 1970, and has proven to be both beneficial and detrimental to the people and the surrounding land.

First, the dam has been beneficial in the following ways:
ﾀ Provides a constant source of water to the people of Egypt ;
ﾀ Helps control the flooding of the Nile River ;

ﾀ Allows for several crops to be grown in a year, instead of just one crop ;
ﾀ The hydroelectric equipment produces about half of all Egypt’s electric power ; ﾀ Allowed more of the land around the Nile River to be established for crop growing ;
ﾀ Allowed Egypt’s agricultural income to increase by 200% ;
ﾀ Created Lake Nasser, which provides for recreation and a greater fishing industry in the inland regions ;
ﾀ Development of the fertilizer and metal industries provides jobs and income ;
ﾀ Made travel between Sudan and Egypt easier ;
ﾀ Increased the potential for tourism along the Nile River and throughout Egypt.

The dam has been detrimental in the following ways:
ﾀ The pressure of the extra water has caused seepage to the surrounding dry land, and has increased the potential for earthquakes in that area ;
ﾀ About 11% of the water in the dam is lost to evaporation (annually or what?); ﾀ Because of infection from animals and people the water is contaminated ;
ﾀ Since the dam stops the flow of sand and silt, the water downstream from the dam carries fewer nutrients and less sand;
ﾀ Artificial fertilizers must now be added to the soil. The people who used the sand to make bricks now have to excavate agricultural land to get more sand, destroying its potential for crops;
ﾀ Since the water downstream from the dam now flows more slowly, there is greater growth of phytoplankton (small, floating plants that grow in the water) and the water used for drinking has to be treated with greater amounts of chlorine;
ﾀ Since there is less water going downstream from the dam, the salt from the Mediterranean Sea has crept slowly inland, making the soil and groundwater saltier than before. This is harmful to the soil and drinking water, making it unfit for crops, drinking and irrigation ;
ﾀ If the dam should break, millions of people downstream would be killed, and the land would again be flooded ;
ﾀ Many archaeological sites had to be moved – this cost over $40 million. Among the sites the most important is Abu Simbel, which deserves to be mentioned specially.

Not only are the two temples at Abu Simbel among the most magnificent monuments in the world, their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the alarm of the international community and international organisation resulted in stirring the country itself. The Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a worldwide appeal to save this world heritage.

(References: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopaedia – 1993. Grolier Electronic Publishing, “Environmental Effects of the High Dam at Aswan,” http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~ge148/1997C/Repo rts/, “The Aswan High Dam,” ndam. html ), Documents on “Sustainable Flood Prevention” UNECE Seminar, prepared by Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Germany, Abed-Barry, 1992 “Effects of the High Aswan Dam on the Water and the bed level of the Nile”, Afifi, Abdel Rarim, 1993, “Role of Aswan High Dam in Safeguarding Egypt from Floods and Droughts”, White G.F. “The environmental Effects of the High Dam at Aswan”, etc.)

1 (The High Aswan Dam was built on the Nile River, territory of Egypt. The Nile River has a catchment area about 3 030 700 km2, length 6800 km, This is a transboundary river with basin in 9 countries with share % area: Sudan 62,7 %, Ethiopia 12,1 %, Egypt 9,9 %, Uganda 7,7 %, Tanzania 3,8 %, Kenya 1,8 %, Zaire 0,8 %, Rwanda 0,7 %, Burundi 0,5 %).

To be continued in the next issue of UNS.