Sunday, January 15, 2006

Aswan Dam

On a long and frankly fascinating list of things which happened today in history the Herald Sun points out that, Egypt's Sadd el-Ali, the Aswan High Dam was officially opened today in 1971 by President Anwar Sadat. After 11 years of construction work, Lake Nasser (the Es-Sadd el-Ali Lake) rose gradually during the 1960s, until it attained a water surface of c.5,500km sq., causing 50,000 Nubians to be evacuated and resettled elswhere in Egypt and the Sudan. It also drowned archaeological sites, only a proportion of which were excavated or rescued before the rising waters covered them for good. Of the 24 stone monuments rescued, the most prominent were Philae and Abu Simbel. For a truly awe inspiring insight into the outcomes of the dam and an analysis of its future, the book Egypt, An Economic Geography by Foud N. Ibrahim and Barbara Ibrahim is a terrific read.

No comments: