One of the sections from our readings in week one jumped out at me. Section 3.2 Environmental Setting is about the Nile river and how it floods. What is interesting to me occurs at the end of the section; we read about the High Dam at Aswan built in the 1960s. The dam has been a useful tool to people living along the Nile, as they can now control the flooding and have improved annual food production. This also ensures that villages are not flooded, which is a clear benefit to the population. However, the lack of flooding causes a problem. The salt in the soil is not being flushed out any more. With ground water being so high this is a problem for the ancient monuments there. The salt that remains after the water is evaporated causes the stone to weaken faster.
What caught my attention with this situation is the dilemma that is present for people interested in the historical and archaeological places there. We want these places to remain intact for as long as possible to study them, and make as many discoveries as possible from what little we have remaining.
We also must think of the people currently living there. Obviously we do not wish them harm. Having the dam in place helps to prevent starvation, loss of homes, and possibly the loss of life, so it is something to be desired.
Yet, as a historian I feel a sense of loss and frustration at the destruction of these ancient places. I wish that, when using modern conveniences, we could try to maintain these historical sites as well. When I was young, Egypt seemed like a magical place, with all of the pyramids and mummies. It dismays me to see recent editions, such as the dam at Aswan, accelerating the deterioration of these awe inspiring parts of history. It is difficult to imagine Egypt without its great monuments.
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Reading and hearing about the Aswan Dam has also raised many questions for me. Although my knowledge is rather limited, I too am concerned about the consequences for the surrounding cultural heritage and environmental aspects. Although famous monuments such as Abu Simbel have been saved by being moved and reconstructed outside of the water area, countless undiscovered data has been destroyed. Although not every archaeological site is considered of equal value, less magnificent or prominent sites such as settlements or geological data are still essential for scholars in order to create a more complete and accurate picture of the past. Yet how many sites have been destroyed due to the fact that they were deemed of less significance? In reality they deserved just as much attention as Abu Simbel, which although it has been saved superficially, has also lost important context and perhaps other unknown data. Another issue of the Aswan Dam which I have heard somewhat about in the news is the new crisis of water resources, especially in Africa. The Nile is a life source for human, plant, and animal life that spans several countries, so who has the right to restrict that flow of water? Water as a resource has been problematic throughout time, yet accessibility to water may become one of the most controversial issues of our generation. Does this dam affect other countries water resources? What impact will this have on politics and power? Just as the right of cultural heritage ownership is controversial, so too is the control of a natural resource which so strongly shapes the lives of people, countries, and history.