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Building Beyond The Mediterranean

 | 
Claudine Piaton
, 
Ezio Godoli
, 
David Peyceré

Rehabilitation

Imagination, design, technique: three European projects for Abu Simbel

Imagination, conception, technique: trois projets européens pour Abou Simbel

Cristina Pallini et Annalisa Scaccabarozzi

Texte intégral

Figure 1: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Sketch of facade rock fissures

Figure 1: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Sketch of facade rock fissures

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

  • 1 John Lewis Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, London: John Murray, 1819, p. 91. John Lewis Burckhardt (1 (...)

1March 1813. On his way back from a journey in Nubia, John Lewis Burckhardt1 noted four statues emerging from the sand: “They do not front the river […] but are turned with their faces due north, towards the most fertile climes of Egypt […]. On the rock wall, in the center of the four statues, is the figure of a hawk-headed Osiris, surmounted by a globe; beneath which, I suspect, could the sand be cleaned away, a vast temple would be discovered, to the entrance of which the above colossal figures probably serve as ornaments.”

  • 2 Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, (...)

2August 1817. Giovanni Battista Belzoni crossed the threshold of the Abu Simbel temple, brought to light after much hard work. “This temple was nearly two-thirds buried under the sand, of which we removed thirty-one feet before we came to the upper part of the door. […] It is the last and largest temple excavated in the solid rock in Nubia and Egypt […] It took us twenty-one days to open it, besides six days last year. […] It is situated under a rock about a hundred feet above the Nile, facing the south-east by east, and about one day and a half’s journey from the second cataract in Nubia, or Wady Halfa. The heat was so great in the interior of the temple that it scarcely permitted us to take any drawings […] accordingly, we left this operation to succeeding travellers, who may set about it with more convenience than we could.”2

  • 3 On the construction and significance of the temples see Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, The World (...)

3The site continued to fascinate Europeans, as attested by this reference to it in Death on the Nile , by Agatha Christie: “It was the evening of the following day – a hot still evening. The Karnak was anchored once more at Abu Simbel to permit a second visit to be made to the temple, this time by artificial light. The difference this made was considerable, and Cornelia commented wonderingly on the fact to Mr. Ferguson, who was standing by her side. ‘Why, you see it ever so much better now!’ she exclaimed. ‘All those enemies having their heads cut off by the King – they just stand right out.’’” Carved into the lower part of the cliff on the left bank of the Nile in the days of Ramesses II (1279-1213 B.C.), the two temples of Abu Simbel marked the southern border of Egypt, showing the power and the face of the Pharaoh to all who arrived from the south.3

The Aswan High Dam: Mobilizing support for the monuments

  • 4 In 1946, when the Nile almost overflowed the dam built by the British in 1902 (already raised in 19 (...)
  • 5 Prior to the High Dam, the level of the Nile at Abu Simbel was 120 meters above sea level; at the e (...)

4After the revolution of July 1952, the new Egyptian republic undertook a program of development based on new plans for agriculture and industrial production. The High Dam at Aswan, first proposed in 1946,4 became a strategic project, the constructional details of which were finally worked out between 1953 and 1956. It was expected that the dam would lead to creation of a lake in that part of the Nile valley. It would be a source of energy and a reserve of water for agriculture, but it would also flood the villages and ancient monuments of Nubia.5

  • 6 The decision was approved at an executive council meeting held in Paris from November 27 to Decembe (...)

5In 1954, Mostafa Amer, director of the Department of Antiquities, and Kamal el-Din Hussein, Minister of Culture, invited a delegation of foreign egyptologists and engineers to Nubia to show them how many treasures the country still possessed. Likewise, in 1958, Sarwat Okasha, the new Minister of Culture, brought in egyptologist Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt and René Maheu, Director-General of UNESCO, the international institute that was to head the campaign for safeguarding Nubian monuments.6

  • 7 A leading figure in Catholic associations, Vittorino Veronese (1910-1986) was Director-General of U (...)
  • 8 World Appeal of Vittorino Veronese, UNESCO Director-General, March 8, 1960. http://www.numibia.net/(...)

6When work began on the High Dam the new Director of UNESCO, Vittorino Veronese,7 made this heartfelt appeal: “Wondrous structures, ranking among the most magnificent on earth, are in danger of disappearing beneath the waters. The Dam will bring fertility to huge stretches of desert; but the opening of new fields to the tractors, the provision of new sources of power to future factories threatens to exact a terrible price […] It is not easy to choose between a heritage of the past and the present well-being of a people, living in need in the shadow of one of history’s most splendid legacies; it is not easy to choose between temples and crops. I would be sorry for any man called on to make that choice who could do so without a feeling of despair; I would be sorry for any man who whatever decision he might reach, could bear the responsibility for that decision without a feeling of remorse.”8

  • 9 André Malraux (1901-1976), a leading figure in 20th century artistic and cultural debate, also work (...)
  • 10 Speech by A. Malraux at UNESCO in Paris, March 8, 1960.
  • 11 See “Statement by President Gamal Abdel Nasser of 20 June 1961 on the preservation of Abu Simbel Te (...)

7UNESCO made requests to the governments of Egypt and the Sudan to allow foreign archeological teams to dig anywhere in Nubia and to send half their findings abroad. André Malraux,9 French Minister of Cultural Affairs, emphasized the exceptional nature of support by the civilized world in recognizing art as a collective and indivisible heritage.10 Universities, museums, and scientific societies worldwide responded to his appeal. President Nasser stated that saving the temples of Abu Simbel deserved efforts as great as those required for economic, social, and scientific progress.11

New problems of preservation and design

8UNESCO set up an ad hoc committee to determine the qualifications necessary for those coordinating urgent archeological research in Egypt and Sudan. It not only concerned making a study of the monuments at risk, both inside and outside the area to be flooded, but also deciding which monuments were to be moved. More experts were called in to identify the possible alternatives to preserving the temples of Philae and Abu Simbel at their original sites. This provoked a lively debate around the concept of “monumental integrity.” The archeologists involved – Abdel Moneim Abou Bakr, Joe Brew, Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Sergio Donadoni – agreed on the importance of maintaining a close relationship between monument and environment. In the case of Abu Simbel, the monumental nature of the architecture and statuary was on a par with the immensity of the surrounding space. Twice a year, at the solstices, the sun shone over the entire length of the temple, lighting up the faces of the three gods and of Ramesses, all seated at the back of the shrine.

  • 12 Established in 1947, the engineering firm Coyne & Bellier specialized in the design of great dams i (...)
  • 13 Established in 1957 at Rome, Italconsult is one of the main engineering firms specialized in design (...)

9This parameter seemed to make the problem insoluble. Nevertheless, Vittorio Veronese announced a “competition of ideas” on how these antiquities could be saved, in conjunction with the campaign to attract experts and raise funds. In this context, UNESCO examined a plan drawn up by the Parisian engineering firm André Coyne & Jean Bellier12 and another presented by three Italian engineering firms: Italconsult,13 Imprese Italiane all’Estero, and Ing. Lodigiani S.p.A.

Figure 2: Temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Layout plan of dam

Figure 2: Temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Layout plan of dam

Source: UNESCO Library, Paris

Figure 3: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Type sections of dam

Figure 3: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Type sections of dam

Source: UNESCO Library, Paris

Figure 4: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Overall perspective

Figure 4: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Overall perspective

Source: UNESCO Library, Paris

A dam to protect the temples

  • 14 Cf. André Coyne and Joseph Duffaut, “Considérations techniques concernant la conservation sur place (...)
  • 15 Pietro Gazzola, “La cultura mondiale e il salvataggio di Abou Simbel,” Rivista di Studi Politici In (...)
  • 16 See Bureau d’études André Coyne et Jean Bellier, Avant-projet des ouvrages de protection des Temple (...)

10The Coyne & Bellier plan proposed leaving the temples where they were and protecting them from the higher water level with a semi-elliptical dam. Their report, dated September 22, 1959,14 set forth the main features of their proposal. The dam, about 70 meters high, was to be about 1,500 m long, wide enough to ensure the least possible delay in receiving early sunlight, and to enclose a lake at the base of the monuments considered essential for the beauty of the landscape. An accurate topographical survey supported by geological, hydrographical, and climatic data, confirmed by laboratory tests, became urgently necessary. At this point, committee members began to express doubts about the risks of water seepage and increased humidity, as well as the isolation of the temples from their surroundings. According to Pietro Gazzola, UNESCO expert for the preservation of cultural heritage, “all of the elements of religious abstraction needed for the sublimation of artistic values would be destroyed forever.”15 In April 1960, Coyne & Bellier undertook to work out the technical and financial aspects of their plan, and in October 1960, produced a new report for which they had called in a number of experts,16 including Albert Laprade and Gilbert H. Weil.

11Their project presented two great advantages. In addition to keeping the temples at their original sites, it would also make use of building materials that were locally available in large quantities, such as sandstone, gravel, and silt. Unlike reinforced concrete, these materials lent themselves to building a dam on the alluvial deposits of the Nile bed. Setting up the worksite meant building temporary dams (blocks of rock) to divert the river. However, constructing the foundations of the dam necessitated further difficult work, the outcome of which was uncertain. The top layers of sand in the riverbed would have to be dredged to expose more compact alluvial deposits, but additional compacting, by vibration, would be needed. The embankment was to consist of a central core of compacted silt sandwiched between two rock walls thick enough to protect it from seepage, and joined to the compacted alluvial deposits. Upstream of the central core there would be an impermeable layer of compacted silt. The inner base of the dam would comprise a ring of filtering shafts. Cement, fine clay, and various chemical compounds would be injected to help seal the dam; a series of drains and pumps would be added to prevent seepage, a risk that would be lessened over time on account of the large quantities of silt carried by the river. The work was to proceed while the lake formed by the High Dam filled up, the whole plan to be completed in 1967. The cost (including all the measures taken to save the monuments) was estimated at between 59 and 82 million US dollars, with annual maintenance amounting to about US$ 370,000.

12Illustrations of the project showed a landscape of exceptional grandeur. The temples were to lie opposite the embankment of the dam lined with local sandstone. Visitors would reach it from above from where they could see the whole site at a glance; pathways along the inner slopes of the embankment would offer them a variety of viewpoints onto the reflecting pool dominated by the giant statues.

Figure 5: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Perspectives showing rock removal to create the caisson

Figure 5: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Perspectives showing rock removal to create the caisson

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

Figure 6: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Overall perspective

Figure 6: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Overall perspective

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

Figure 7: Small temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Plan and cross and longitudinal sections of the caisson

Figure 7: Small temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Plan and cross and longitudinal sections of the caisson

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

Lifting the temples

  • 17 With his degrees in civil engineering and mathematics, Gustavo Colonnetti (1886-1968) was one of It (...)
  • 18 Pietro Gazzola (1908-1979), who held a degree in Architecture from Polytechnic (1932) and one in Ar (...)
  • 19 On Riccardo Morandi (1902-1989) see Lara Vinca Masini, Riccardo Morandi, Rome: De Luca, 1974; Giorg (...)

13The second plan examined by UNESCO was the one presented by a group of Italian firms with Gustavo Colonnetti,17 Pietro Gazzola18 and Riccardo Morandi19 acting as consultants. Using modern engineering means, the plan involved cutting through the hill, building a casing around each block of rock containing the temples, raising both casings to safe level above the waters, and reconstructing the hill around the casings in their new position. This would avoid any direct intervention on the monuments and respect the sacred relationship between architecture and environment, namely: maintaining the original orientation of the Great Temple so it would still be aligned with the sun during the solstices.

  • 20 Italconsult S.p.A., Imprese italiane all’estero S.p.A., Ing. Lodigiani S.p.A., Saving the Temples o (...)
  • 21 The section entitled “Operazioni statiche e meccaniche” dealt with problems concerning lifting oper (...)

14Feasibility studies were begun in April 1960 and were completed about eight months later. The final version of the plan, dated November 1960,20 included a series of specific reports, on the fissures already present, the characteristics of Nubian sandstone, the restoration work to be done before the buildings could be raised, and the work needed to consolidate the foundations of the temples in the rock in which they were going to be embedded. The plan was to be carried out in stages, over a period of six years. The first step was to construct cut-off walls and drain-wells to protect the worksite from the water of the Nile. A drainage ditch would be dug in front of the temples to isolate them from the river bank. The highly delicate second stage would involve removing the rock above the temples to reduce the load to be raised. A space would be created to separate the rock containing the temples from the solid cliff behind it. Likewise, a series of tunnels would be dug 7 meters below the average level of the temple floor, where the steel ribbing of the foundation slab would be assembled. In this space casings (cellular protection boxes) would be constructed to absorb the stress created while the temples and the enclosing rock were being raised. The biggest casing would measure 71.5 x 60.7 x 44.1 m. At this point, the temples would be completely enclosed in the casings, made of a gridlike structure of reinforced concrete beams. Its front wall would protect the façade of the temples while they were being lifted. The upper slab of the casing with its top connecting beams would absorb stresses previously taken up by the upper part of the hill. The base of the casing (foundation slab) was to be built under a thick layer of rock, digging parallel tunnels to form an underground gridtype structure of reinforced concrete, the crossing points of which would receive thrust from hydraulic jacks used in the raising process. More underground tunnels would be used to build the platform to which the hydraulic jacks would transfer the load of rock. The Great Temple, weighing 253,000 t with its casing, would be raised by a set of 308 hydraulic jacks, each of a capacity of 500 t,21 acting synchronically. Little by little, the temples in their casings would be raised by 62 m (from 125 to 187 m above sea level). Once the temples had been lifted to their final position, the hydraulic jacks would be removed and replaced by suitable foundations consisting of a series of continuous walls of reinforced concrete. The last stage of the work would concern restoration of the surrounding environment, building two artificial hills covered with blocks of Nubian sandstone and reproducing the former gorge between the two temples. In this form the plan was presented on October 25, 1960 to the director general of UNESCO on behalf of the Italian Government. The cost would vary between $43 million and $58 million, depending upon efforts devoted to restoring the landscape. The accompanying report emphasized the importance of restoration, coining the expression “living stone,” a combination of geology and biology, to express the centuries-old balance between the monuments and their natural surroundings.

Appraisals

  • 22 Appointed by letter of 19 December 1960, the other experts were Ivan Komzin (USSR), Hans Joachim Ma (...)
  • 23 In view of the technical complexity of the Italian plan, the Egyptian government appointed a Superv (...)

15To compare the French and Italian plans, Veronese appointed a group of experts that included the Egyptian architect Ali Labib Gabr.22 The committee rejected the French plan, judging it too difficult to carry out for technical reasons. The plan proposed innovative methods for building the dam in the absence of full knowledge of the properties of the alluvial silt under the embankment, or how far the Nubian sandstone might have deteriorated under the sand. The French plan could also be jeopardized by unfavorable climatic conditions, a risk that the engineers could not avoid. The Italian plan was appreciated for its inventiveness and completeness, but it could not be undertaken unless there was absolute certainty it could be completed on schedule. The lifting process using hydraulic jacks would have required an unprecedented degree of skill and precision, but the risks relating to mechanical and electronic problems could have been dealt with. Concluding the evaluation, the experts voted for the Italian plan.23 They noted that the dam would not only diminish the proportions of the temples, but it would also require continual maintenance and the constant use of drainage and pumping systems. By raising the temples to a higher level, it was thought that they would better withstand the test of time.

Figure 8: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Longitudinal section of the temple and construction cranes

Figure 8: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Longitudinal section of the temple and construction cranes

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

Moving the temples

  • 24 Giuseppe Lodigiani, “Appunto per la serata del Rotary di Milano: Abu Simbel. Il salvataggio del tem (...)
  • 25 Formed ad hoc, the consortium included Grands Travaux de Marseille from Paris, Hochtief from Essen, (...)
  • 26 Giuseppe Lodigiani, “Appunto per la serata del Rotary di Milano,” op. cit., p. 15-16.

16“After a thorough examination of both plans a final decision was taken in favor of a third idea put forward by a Swedish firm, this being to cut the temples into blocks and put them together again above the maximum level that the lake created by the High Dam could reach.”24 This decision was made in June 1963 and an international competition was announced for tenders. The contract was awarded to Joint Venture Abu Simbel.25 Under this plan, the temples would be cut out together with some of the cliff around them, and put together again at a site 65 m higher up. The cutting and reassembly work, involving complex topographical operations, was assigned to Impregilo. They hired marble quarrymen from the Apuan Alps: “men skillful in plying traditional tools, such as handsaws, the only ones suitable for lessening the risk of damaging the structures.”26

  • 27 The archeologists wanted the fewest cuts possible, even if bigger blocks meant higher costs for lif (...)

17Work began at the beginning of 1964, with the creation of barriers to protect the worksite from the river water, followed by removal of rock around the monuments. Special apparatus was used to ensure that vibrations did not exceed a certain limit. The frontages of the temples were protected with sandbags, the roofs and walls with temporary braces. The layer of rock was reduced to 80 cm from the surfaces of the monuments. The first plan for actual cutting was ready in July 1964: the statues, walls and roofs of the temples were to be cut up into over a thousand blocks, of a size to permit their being raised and moved.27

  • 28 In addition to the monumental blocks, there were the 6,800 blocks of hill rock to be used to recrea (...)

18To cut through the sandstone with a maximum kerf, or width, of 6mm, handsaws were used for parts on the surface and mechanical saws for all the rest. Removed from their original positions, the blocks were taken to the depot28 for treatment and preparation before being reassembled; their rear surfaces were reinforced with concrete and steel bars inserted for anchoring them.

  • 29 At the end of March 1966, the High Dam Management Department decided to raise the maximum level of (...)
  • 30 Tourist services and a ventilation system were to be placed between the temples and the intrados of (...)
  • 31 For the completed plan see also Karl-Heinz Martini, Abu Simbel, Essen: 2R-Druck, 1965; Sergio Frasc (...)

19The work of cutting and removal began on May 21, 1965 and was completed on April 16, 1966.29 While the last blocks were being cut, crews began reassembling the temples in their new position; using a theodolite, surveyors and topographers checked the new positions of the blocks down to the millimeter. Reconstruction areas had been dug for the foundations of the temples with their reinforced concrete caps,30 covered over with earth and sandstone debris. The cliff face, a sheer drop down to the lake, was mounted with the support of reinforced concrete walls; the temple façades were reassembled using supporting frames on which the single blocks of the colossal statues could be placed in position one by one. Considering the number of people employed at the site (about 1,900, a figure that rose to 3,000 when their families arrived), the temporary settlement envisaged by the plan was similar to a small town: houses and offices, dining halls and cafeterias, sports facilities, hotels and shops, a mosque, and a police station. Journeys to and from the site were made by jeep and on camels. Rebuilding of the temples was completed earlier than expected, in the autumn of 1968; though restoration work continued until 1972, the site was inaugurated on September 22, 196931 in the presence of UNESCO and high-ranking government officials.

Figure 9: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Overall map of the site facilities and the contractors’ colony

Figure 9: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Overall map of the site facilities and the contractors’ colony

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

Figure 10: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Site plan showing the location of the temporary protection dam

Figure 10: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Site plan showing the location of the temporary protection dam

Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan

  • 32 Marco Ferrante, “Quando le nostre aziende riuscivano a salvare i Faraoni,” Il Sole 24 Ore, 17 Febru (...)
  • 33 For the material collected for this essay, we wish to thank, in alphabetical order, Roberto Brizi ( (...)

20Much has been written about the temples of Abu Simbel, especially in the 1960s when rescue operations were in progress. The principles formulated during the international campaign launched by UNESCO were codified in the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. For Egypt, the work at Abu Simbel, more than any other, attested to the importance of re-establishing relations with its history: a millenary history suddenly front and center on the world stage (and so re-launched in international tourism) due to the new geography of the Nile Valley and an operation of unprecedented technical value and interest. We may add that the Italian planners, experts, and quarrymen who actually solved the problem of saving the temples of Abu Simbel further reinforced Italy’s new role in building modern Egypt. In Italy, the venture made headlines for years, and was seen almost as a sporting challenge, expressing something of postcolonial pride. A recent article entitled “When our businesses saved the Pharaohs”32 showed a half-page photo of the head of Ramesses II being lifted by a crane. It went on to state how the Egyptian guides told tourists that the “clever Italians” had moved the temples three hundred meters back and raised them sixty higher. 33

Figure 11: Temples at Abu Simbel, Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Photograph of the temple reconstruction site and the dome that will support the landscaped hill, c. 1967

Figure 11: Temples at Abu Simbel, Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Photograph of the temple reconstruction site and the dome that will support the landscaped hill, c. 1967

Source: Impregilo archives

Notes

1 John Lewis Burckhardt, Travels in Nubia, London: John Murray, 1819, p. 91. John Lewis Burckhardt (1784-1817) was a Swiss-born explorer and orientalist best known for his discovery of Petra in 1812.

2 Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia, London: John Murray, 1820, p. 213-214. Born in Padua, Giovanni Battista Belzoni (1778-1823) is considered a forerunner of modern egyptology.

3 On the construction and significance of the temples see Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, The World Saves Abu Simbel, Vienna: Koska, 1968.

4 In 1946, when the Nile almost overflowed the dam built by the British in 1902 (already raised in 1912 and in 1933), the authorities decided to build a larger dam 6 km upstream of the old one.

5 Prior to the High Dam, the level of the Nile at Abu Simbel was 120 meters above sea level; at the end of 1967 the water level reached 170 m above sea level, about 50 m higher.

6 The decision was approved at an executive council meeting held in Paris from November 27 to December 4, 1959.

7 A leading figure in Catholic associations, Vittorino Veronese (1910-1986) was Director-General of UNESCO from November 1958 to 1961.

8 World Appeal of Vittorino Veronese, UNESCO Director-General, March 8, 1960. http://www.numibia.net/

9 André Malraux (1901-1976), a leading figure in 20th century artistic and cultural debate, also worked as an archeologist in central Asia: he was Minister of Cultural Affairs in the Charles de Gaulle governments from 1958 to 1968.

10 Speech by A. Malraux at UNESCO in Paris, March 8, 1960.

11 See “Statement by President Gamal Abdel Nasser of 20 June 1961 on the preservation of Abu Simbel Temples” in UNESCO/CUA/109, Information about the international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia, Progress of the campaign from 1 May to 4 August 1961, Annex III.

12 Established in 1947, the engineering firm Coyne & Bellier specialized in the design of great dams including the Kariba dam on the Zambezi (1959).

13 Established in 1957 at Rome, Italconsult is one of the main engineering firms specialized in design and execution of transport and hydraulic works; in the early 60s it acted as consultant to the Ministry of Agrarian Reform, on reclamation work in the Delta, on the central stretch of the Nile and on Upper Egypt.

14 Cf. André Coyne and Joseph Duffaut, “Considérations techniques concernant la conservation sur place des monuments de Abou Simbel et de Philae,” Report of the meeting of international experts held in Cairo on 1 October 1959.

15 Pietro Gazzola, “La cultura mondiale e il salvataggio di Abou Simbel,” Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali, 2, 1961, p. 195.

16 See Bureau d’études André Coyne et Jean Bellier, Avant-projet des ouvrages de protection des Temples d’Abou Simbel, Paris, October 1960. The dossier comprises four volumes: the main report, designs, four issues of technical documentation (natural conditions, material to use, work concept, construction); explanatory graphic material: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/resources/online-materials/publications/unesdoc-database

17 With his degrees in civil engineering and mathematics, Gustavo Colonnetti (1886-1968) was one of Italy’s leading engineers. In 1944, the provisional government appointed him to restart research in Italy and from 1945 to 1956 he chaired the “Consiglio nazionale delle Ricerche e della Ricostruzione” (later CNR).

18 Pietro Gazzola (1908-1979), who held a degree in Architecture from Polytechnic (1932) and one in Arts from Milan State University (1934), followed the teachings of Camillo Boito, Luca Beltrami, Gustavo Giovannoni and Ambrogio Annoni. In 1952 UNESCO appointed him specialist for monuments and archeological digs. In 1960, his mission to Nubia started the archeological campaign there. For more on Gazzola see Claudia Aveta, Pietro Gazzola, Restauro dei monumenti e tutela ambientale, Naples: Edizioni scientifiche italiane, 2007.

19 On Riccardo Morandi (1902-1989) see Lara Vinca Masini, Riccardo Morandi, Rome: De Luca, 1974; Giorgio Boaga (ed.), Riccardo Morandi, Bologna: Zanichelli, 1984; Giuseppe Imbesi, Maurizio Morandi, Francesco Moschini (ed.), Riccardo Morandi. Innovazione tecnologia progetto, Rome, Reggio Calabria: Gangemi, 1991.

20 Italconsult S.p.A., Imprese italiane all’estero S.p.A., Ing. Lodigiani S.p.A., Saving the Temples of Abu Simbel , Preliminary Design, 6 vols. Rome, November 1960.

21 The section entitled “Operazioni statiche e meccaniche” dealt with problems concerning lifting operations, describing the degree of interdependence between the structures and mechanical action by the set of hydraulic jacks.

22 Appointed by letter of 19 December 1960, the other experts were Ivan Komzin (USSR), Hans Joachim Martini (German Federal Republic), Alfred Stucky (Switzerland), Edward E. White (USA), George Radchenko (USSR).

23 In view of the technical complexity of the Italian plan, the Egyptian government appointed a Supervisory Committee chaired by Hassan Zaky with three members nominated by the Norwegian and Swedish governments: Laurits Bjerrum (Oslo), Anton Brandtzaeg (Trondheim), Arvid Hedvall (Gothenburg).

24 Giuseppe Lodigiani, “Appunto per la serata del Rotary di Milano: Abu Simbel. Il salvataggio del tempio di Ramsete II,” 15 January 2001, typed copy, p. 10.

25 Formed ad hoc, the consortium included Grands Travaux de Marseille from Paris, Hochtief from Essen, the Italian group Impresit-Girola-Lodigiani (Impregilo) from Milan, Skanska and Sentab both from Stockholm, and the Egyptian firm Atlas.

26 Giuseppe Lodigiani, “Appunto per la serata del Rotary di Milano,” op. cit., p. 15-16.

27 The archeologists wanted the fewest cuts possible, even if bigger blocks meant higher costs for lifting and transport. It was finally decided that the façade blocks would not exceed 30 t and cut surfaces of 15 m2. The rest would not exceed 20 t with cut surfaces of 12 m2 (wall blocks) and of 10 m2 (vault blocks).

28 In addition to the monumental blocks, there were the 6,800 blocks of hill rock to be used to recreate the surroundings of the temples.

29 At the end of March 1966, the High Dam Management Department decided to raise the maximum level of the artificial lake, making it necessary to remove the first 31 blocks of the smaller temple, already in their final places, in order to raise the floor and then put them in place again.

30 Tourist services and a ventilation system were to be placed between the temples and the intrados of the cupolas. The cupola of the Great Temple represents a great technical achievement: 60 m deep, 25 m high, and 45 m wide, it supports a load from 20 t/m2 at the top to 70 t/m2 at the base.

31 For the completed plan see also Karl-Heinz Martini, Abu Simbel, Essen: 2R-Druck, 1965; Sergio Frascarelli “Lo spostamento dei Templi di Abu Simbel,” Rivista tecnica dell’Ance – L’Industria delle Costruzioni, March-April 1969, VBB Vatten-byggnadsbyrån, The Salvage of the Abu Simbel Temples, Concluding Report Stockholm 1976. Paola Latini, “Quarant’anni di opere,” Progetto & Pubblico, no. 20, p. 36-45.

32 Marco Ferrante, “Quando le nostre aziende riuscivano a salvare i Faraoni,” Il Sole 24 Ore, 17 February 2011, p. 17.

33 For the material collected for this essay, we wish to thank, in alphabetical order, Roberto Brizi (director of the Italconsult archive), Dr. Alberto Franchi (Politecnico di Milano), engineer Vincenzo Lizier, engineer Enrico Lodigiani (Lodigiani private archive), Dr. Antonio Migliacci (Politecnico di Milano), engineer Gianni Porta (Impregilo S.p.a., South Africa Branch).

Table des illustrations

Titre Figure 1: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Sketch of facade rock fissures
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 176k
Titre Figure 2: Temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Layout plan of dam
Crédits Source: UNESCO Library, Paris
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 62k
Titre Figure 3: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Type sections of dam
Crédits Source: UNESCO Library, Paris
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 52k
Titre Figure 4: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), André Coyne & Jean Bellier, eng.: Overall perspective
Crédits Source: UNESCO Library, Paris
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 94k
Titre Figure 5: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Perspectives showing rock removal to create the caisson
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 183k
Titre Figure 6: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Overall perspective
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 193k
Titre Figure 7: Small temple at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1960), Italconsult, Impresit & Lodigiani, cont.: Plan and cross and longitudinal sections of the caisson
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-7.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 51k
Titre Figure 8: Great Temple of Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Longitudinal section of the temple and construction cranes
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-8.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 42k
Titre Figure 9: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Overall map of the site facilities and the contractors’ colony
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-9.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 106k
Titre Figure 10: Temples at Abu Simbel, preliminary design (1965), Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Site plan showing the location of the temporary protection dam
Crédits Source: Enrico Lodigiani private archives, Milan
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-10.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 86k
Titre Figure 11: Temples at Abu Simbel, Joint Venture Abu Simbel, cont.: Photograph of the temple reconstruction site and the dome that will support the landscaped hill, c. 1967
Crédits Source: Impregilo archives
URL http://books.openedition.org/inha/docannexe/image/12774/img-11.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 185k

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