Packing and shipping a whole Nubian Temple

Title

Creator

Leitgeber, Boleslaw

Language

English

Year

1961

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

PACKING AND SHIPPING A WHOLE NUBIAN TEMPLE Boleslaw Leitgeber “Habashi” is a nickname meaning the “Ethiopian”. It has become an institution, al most a legend in Egypt; for the man who bears it — his real name is Mohammed Said Hamani — has been for near ly 40 years a key figure in the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Not that he has been one of the top men in the service whose names, after their ca reer is over, live on in the an nals of Egyptology as succes sors to a host of brilliant scholars, like Champollion or Maspero. But Habashi has probably seen more of Egyptian ar chaeology during his lifetime than many well-known fo reign Egyptologists. Today he is a man in his early six ties, still vigorous, stocky in build, with kindly eyes and an almost classical, Greek nose such as one sometimes finds on the Upper Nile, go ing south towards the Sudan. The eminence of Habashi’s position lies in the fact that he has been employed by the Antiquities Service at prac tically every important exca vation in Egypt during the last generation. His job is to supervise the work of the la bourers and teams of diggers. He was the privileged fore man who raised the funeral barge of Cheops in front of the Great Pyramid at Giza after its discovery a quarter of a century ago. Today, once again, he is at the helm of a strategic ope ration: that of saving the Nu bian art treasures, under the international campaign launched by Unesco. He is now in the field, in Nubia, en gaged in the delicate work that will save two temples and a kiosk of the Ptolemeic period — Debod, Taffa and Kertassi — the first to be threatened by the rising wa ters of the Nile after comple tion of the new High Dam at Aswan. A_ Successful Experiment In view of the rapidly ap proaching time-limit — this is is a critical period for these temples — a visit to the Anti December 1961 79 quities Service workshop near Aswan, now in full activity, is a heartening experience. It is here that an important stage in the rescue campaign has been enacted. The three temples have recently been dismantled and transported to safety, preparatory to their re-erection elsewhere. The component parts now lie on protected ground on the island of Elephantine. The success of the operation means that it can be repeat ed elsewhere, if need be on an even larger scale. For ins tance, there are plans, under the Unesco programme, for the transfer of Kalabsha, known as the “Luxor of Nu bia”, which is, after Philae, the largest Graeco-Roman foundation in Egyptian Nu bia. Debod, Taff a and Kertassi served as a first and suc cessful experiment in the art of removal in Nubia. More over, the Egyptian Antiqui ties Service can boast of hav ing accomplished the task in less time than was originally planned, and with greater safety. It was here that the person ality of the leader of the team, Habashi, proved itself again, as it has done so often in the past The largest of the three mo numents, Debod, has a monu mental doorway, adorned with the ancient symbol of the winged sun, still in good condition. On the facade, Augustus and Tiberius are re presented alongside the an cient Egyptian gods. All this had to be taken down, stone by stone, each stone being first numbered and then pack ed. Ropes And Muscle The temple of Taffa, of the late Ptolemeic period, stood on the river bank some 30 miles further up the Nile. It too was doomed to disappear. Now it is in safety. Smaller than Debod, it filled, when dismantled, only two barges (Debod needed three). All the work was done in the tradi tional Pharaonic manner, by the use of human muscle, with no devices other than ropes for pulling the stones over the ground. The stones .were dragged down a slight slope to the bank where the barges were waiting. There the men gave a final push, and a crane, erected over the deck of the barge, lifted each stone, which was then lower ed into the boat. This crane, equipped with a single hook, was the only mechanical con traption used. The barges, one after the other, were hauled down the Nile, through the locks of the present As wan Dam, to the island of Panorama Elephantine where they were unloaded by equally simple means. Another barge, the El Sebua, carried the stones of the temple kiosk of Kertassi, consisting of 120 com ponent pieces. The precious load included a number of beautifully shaped columns, their capitals intact, each packed separately into crates to protect them from scratch ing. The whole operation took scarcely more than three months, July to September 1960. During this time some 400 workers were engaged and six boats chartered. The area where the temples were de posited was fenced off and is not accessible to the ordinary visitor. Here, in quiet sec lusion. a small team of men, under the experienced eye of Habashi, have made a tho rough inventory of this ar chaeological hoard and are preparing the temples for re erection. The temple of De bod is one which the United Arab Republic might be pre pared to offer to a country which renders outstanding services to the campaign to save the Nubian monuments. Altogether the government is ready to offer five of its temples in return for foreign assistance, the cost of transfer to be borne by the receiving countries. The experts sent to Nubia to ‘.undertake a preliminary survey of the monuments, have recommended the re moval of about 20 temples and churches. The plan is to transfer them to sites in Nu bia above the new water le vel. Working to a Time-Table As far as the priority of the removal operations is con cerned, a list published by Unesco gives tentative dates for the beginning of each task, together with an estimate of its duration. The range of these operations differs ac cording to the size of the mo nument and local conditions, such as soil, accessibility and the rate of advance of the wa ter. In the case of some of the more elaborate temples, like Dakka, Derr and the rockhewn tomb of Aniba, the work will take up to three years and should be complet ed by 1963. The Temple of Kalabsha, which is the lar gest, will require four years for removal and re-erection. Other, however, such as Wadi es Sebua, once used as a Christian church of which some features, such as a fres co of St. Peter, are still dis cernible, will take only two years to move. The work is likely to be carried out by a number of December 1961 81 teams from various countries, so that the burden may be shared. The Egyptian Anti quities Service has given an example of speed and efficien cy by being the first to .move three monuments to safety. This news will give comfort and encouragement to the many who, in all parts of the world, follow Unesco’s cam paign on behalf of the Nubian art treasures with interest and anxiety, earnestly hoping for its successful completion. (UNESCO) British Divers to Measure Rise of the Mediterranean A team of eleven divers, who are also archaeologists, geologists, anthropologists and zoologists, left England re cently to explore underwater sites around the coasts of the Mediterranean. Members of the Cambridge University Underwater Exploration Group, they will attempt to trace changes in the sea le vel which have occurred since the beginning of the Ice Age, about a million years ago. * The expedition will visit the Balearic Islands, the Costa Brava in Spain, the French and Italian Riviera, Elba, Naples, Stromboli, Syracuse. Carthage and Algeria. They will explore numerous subma rine caves in search of evi dence of human habitation and also some twenty sub merged Roman and Phoeni cian cities. The team has taken along all kinds of scientific equip ment, including a portable de compression chamber, a zoo logical laboratory, echometers for charting the caves, inter communication radio sets for use by the divers and under water scooters. ‘The expedition includes se veral cameramen who hope to make a series of document ary films for television. Un derwater floodlighting will be used for shots in the caves. (UNESCO) 82 Panorama

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