19 - 25 July 2001
Issue No.543
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 19 - 25 July 2001 Issue No.543 |
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Before the flood
In Luxor and Aswan, increasing water tables are said to threaten the foundations of our historic monuments. Nevine El-Aref investigates
I look up at the awe-inspiring Karnak temple and wonder: will the water which has begun to stain many of its stone walls actually cause these corridors, sanctuaries, pylons, obelisks, chapels and the famous Hypostyle Hall to fall into a pile of rubble? The question, though hypothetical and alarmist, is not far-fetched.
Clockwise from top: Karnak reflected in the now-polluted waters of the sacred lake; water was not always a problem for Karnak as evidenced by these ancient irrigation channels running along the Avenue of the Rams; water channels infested with weeds photos: Khaled El-Fiqi
Beyond the tourists armed with water bottles and sun glasses a group of people is hard at work. They are driven and absorbed, in spite of the heat, and probably because they have pondered this very question. These are the archaeologists and hydrologists whose aim is focused on trying to prevent more water from infiltrating the walls of the monuments. Some are removing salts from the affected walls, while others arrange white rubble at the feet of some of the monuments threatened by the high level of the underground water.
Abdel-Satar Badri, an archaeological inspector supervising the work, took time to tell me that the rubble acted as a cushion separating the wet ground from the monument itself. "It also prevents leakage of water and salt infiltration on the surface of the archaeological edifice," he said.
A Swedish company, SWECO, is also involved in water-prevention attempts although, according to Bekheet Mahmoud, general director of Karnak temple, they have had to suspend activity until September as the summer heat was affecting the hydrological equipment in a way that rendered the findings inadequate.
The reasons why water is becoming such a serious problem are manifold. Sabri Abdel-Aziz, director of antiquities of Upper Egypt, counts three direct causes; namely increased sugar cane cultivation around the temple zone, the lack of a proper drainage system in the shanty housing areas near Karnak and the heightened level of the Nile in July and August.
For his part, Saleh Shaalan, head of the cultural committee in Luxor's governing council, points directly at the Aswan Dam.
It is a plausible argument when one considers that archaeological ruins inside the temple show that, from ancient times, Karnak was subjected to subterranean water caused by the Nile flood. To control the water level inside the temple, the Pharaohs constructed both large and small limestone Nilometers at various locations within the temple walls. And as the Nile was a deity of prosperity, the ancient Egyptians surrounded the temple with water, constructing a sacred lake beside the open courtyard.
The temple's main corridors were decorated with flowers and trees which required daily irrigation. And while all these facts explain why water was accumulated under the temple, they do not explain the exacerbation of the problem today, and not just at Karnak.
Although Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), does not deny the role of the High Dam in damaging, or threatening to damage, historic monuments, he defends the policy which led to its being built. "We have noticed that the water table has risen since the High Dam was built," he told Al-Ahram Weekly, "Indeed, the most serious damage occurs during the Nile's former flood season, as the river continues to adhere to its natural cycle despite being regulated by the dam. But even if the dam is the reason, we had to have it. While antiquities are important, we would have had the worst famine Egypt ever witnessed if we had not built the High Dam."
Three weeks ago, a delegation led by Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, with representatives from the ministries of agriculture, irrigation and the head of the Luxor governing council, toured the site. During the tour, several solutions to end the water table problem were suggested, some of which have recently been put into effect.
In collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) the Ministry of Agriculture is testing a change in the irrigation system used in sugar cane cultivation -- switching from traditional methods (basin irrigation) to a sprinkler system. So far, 100 feddans under cultivation west of the temple have employed this new system.
Mahmoud added that an estimated 30 per cent of the water could be drained when the old drainage channel, dug 70 years ago by the French Egyptologist Georges Legrain, was replaced. Finally, an American-Egyptian project funded by a grant of US$42 million from the United States would install a modern sewerage system near the residential area, as well as a drainage-water recycling station. As we walked around the temple, we saw test pits under construction, as well as the installation of high-tech machines to pump out subterranean water caused by the inhabitants' septic tanks.
Can these efforts ward off the permanent affects of the High Dam, and are they capable of saving our heritage? At Karnak, everyone is working hard towards a positive answer.
WATER PERVASIVE: Archaeological sites in Aswan are also suffering from the increasing level of the water table. The effects of erosion are painfully clear at the Fatimid cemetery on the east side of the Aswan reservoir. This Islamic necropolis of 37 feddans is enclosed within a limestone wall and contains 31 domed graves dating back to the fifth and sixth centuries AH (11th and 12th centuries AD).
The site is overgrown with weeds, and to get around the graves one must sidestep deep pools of water. The section of the necropolis at the top of a sandy hill is very well preserved, while that at ground-level suffers both water and urban encroachment.
Magdi Abdin, director of Islamic antiquities in Aswan, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) was currently carrying out a restoration plan to save 15 of these Fatimid domed tombs. White gravel was being poured into the area, but no long-term steps have been taken to stop the infiltration of water.
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