17 - 23 May 2001
Issue No.534
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 17 - 23 May 2001 Issue No.534 |
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Abu Simbel back in the limelight
The attention-grabbing Abu Simbel temple complex will headline the Ministry of Culture's new effort to refurbish and secure rescued temples on Lake Nasser. Nevine El-Aref tracks the project's progress
Given the most attention during a period of frenzied archaeological salvage operations alongside the building of the Aswan High Dam, the Abu Simbel temple complex is again in the limelight with a spruced up visitor's centre, security system and stricter visitor's rules. But Abu Simbel is only one of seven temples that were rescued from inundation ahead of the 1971 opening of the High Dam, which flooded the whole of Nubia, and each one is in need of landscaping and refurbishments.
The sound-and-light show at Abu Simbel temple complex
The Ministry of Culture has been talking about developing and upgrading the areas around the temples for years, but the project will finally bear fruit next month, when the first part of the first phase -- which covers Abu Simbel -- will open to the public. In addition to Abu Simbel, the first phase also includes the temples of Philae and Kalabsha, but work there is still incomplete. Still on the list are El-Sebua, Amada, Beit El-Wali and the Kiosk of Kartassi.
Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) called the Abu Simbel temples "lucky", saying that they had a "better chance in the development project than other neighbouring temples."
Aside from improving lighting and some restoration work on some of the reliefs, the star of the Abu Simbel project is a new visitor's centre built at the footsteps of the twin temples, dedicated to Ramses II and his wife, Nefertari. Equipped with a lecture hall and a screen room showing documentaries about the elaborate salvage operation, the centre's most significant addition to the complex is a three-dimensional design of the twin structures showing the various corridors, halls and sanctuaries of the temples. Also on display are photographs of the most noteworthy reliefs.
Taking into account archaeologists' concerns that overcrowding is causing irreparable damage to the temples, tour guides will no longer be able to give lectures inside the temple. Instead, groups will gather at the centre before entering the temple and their guides will use the temple design to point out specific points of interest. Only then, says Gaballa, will visitors be guided into the temples in a "quiet and orderly fashion." Ayman Abdel-Moneim, a senior archaeologist on the project, says that if the system proves successful, it will be implemented at every archaeological site in Egypt.
Part of the Ministry of Culture's plan to safeguard archaeological sites includes installing high-tech security systems similar to the one operative at the Egyptian Museum. The new system at Abu Simbel includes mobile and fixed cameras linked to a closed-circuit television, keeping the corridors and halls of the two temples, as well as the surrounding area, under close surveillance at all times. To tighten the security measures even further the whole complex has been enclosed within a three-metre-high wall -- an addition that has angered many tour operators, who claim that the wall spoils the scenery around the temples.
But Culture Minister Farouk Hosni dismisses this complaint, explaining that the fencing was erected to stop Nile cruises from docking at the temple, which damages the rocks near the site. "In collaboration with the Aswan governorate, a special dock has been prepared for these cruises, but they never abide by regulations and just dock in front of the temple," Hosni said. "We are trying to protect our heritage, not ruin it, as some claim."
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