The Nubian people
had lived in this border area between Egypt and the Sudan for thousands of
years, retaining their own language and culture. The Nubian nation that had
produced this unique culture, inseparably connected with the Nile and the land
in its narrow valley, was expunged within a few years when the dam was built.
Seventy thousand Nubians living in Egypt were resettled at Kom Ombo, north
of Aswan, where they were given land away from the Nile, by the banks of
which they had traditionally lived. For the 50,000 Nubians living in the Sudan
the irrigation scheme of Khashm el-Girba was established. Some of the stone
monuments of the Nubian culture were saved at enormous financial expense
before Nubia and other examples of the Nubian culture vanished in the floods
of the reservoir. The world viewed with great interest as twenty-four Nubian
temples were saved, among them Abu Simbel (see Illustration 18) and some
remains of the early Christian Nubian kingdoms. Far more money was spent
on this than on the resettling of the Nubian people. Although they were the
ones most directly affected, nobody asked their opinion when the agreement
for the construction of the High Dam was signed by the heads of state of
Egypt and the Sudan. After they had been evacuated many of the displaced
Nubians were completely uprooted and disorientated in their new environ-
ments, suffering physically as well as mentally. Some never gave up and tried
to settle again on land close to their own, which they had lost. However, the
considerable fluctuations in the surface area of the reservoir, dependent on
the varying Nile discharge between dry and wet phases in the river’s catch-
ment areas, make it difficult for them to settle on its shores. The establish-
ment of floating settlements has been discussed, but the technical problems
have not been solved so far. FAO, the UN organization, sponsored a project
for resettling people along the lake in villages that were named after the old
Nubian places, most of which were drowned in the waters of the lake, like
Jerf Hussein, Toshka, Kalabsha, Abu Simbel, Qostol, Adendan, El-Allaqi and
Es-Sayala. Al-Ahram, the semi-official Egyptian newspaper (6 January 1993: 3),
reported under the heading, ‘Migration to the south – cultivation at the lake
is our only way to solve the problem of unemployment’ on the successful
reclamation of 1 million feddans (420,000 ha) of land by the shores of the
lake, and the fact that about 1,800 families from the Nile valley had received
land free of cost to settle there. In addition, they were said to have received
starting capital of LE 500 (c. £100 sterling), as well as long-term interest-free
loans for buying tractors, water pumps and pipes. The government promised,
among other things, the construction of roads, schools and hospitals, and a
guaranteed supply of food. The project was not aimed at the Nubians who
had lost their land; on the contrary, they had to see it being given away to
strangers. If the project were successful, it would lead to the pollution of
the storage lake, for example with bilharzia and other water-borne diseases.
had lived in this border area between Egypt and the Sudan for thousands of
years, retaining their own language and culture. The Nubian nation that had
produced this unique culture, inseparably connected with the Nile and the land
in its narrow valley, was expunged within a few years when the dam was built.
Seventy thousand Nubians living in Egypt were resettled at Kom Ombo, north
of Aswan, where they were given land away from the Nile, by the banks of
which they had traditionally lived. For the 50,000 Nubians living in the Sudan
the irrigation scheme of Khashm el-Girba was established. Some of the stone
monuments of the Nubian culture were saved at enormous financial expense
before Nubia and other examples of the Nubian culture vanished in the floods
of the reservoir. The world viewed with great interest as twenty-four Nubian
temples were saved, among them Abu Simbel (see Illustration 18) and some
remains of the early Christian Nubian kingdoms. Far more money was spent
on this than on the resettling of the Nubian people. Although they were the
ones most directly affected, nobody asked their opinion when the agreement
for the construction of the High Dam was signed by the heads of state of
Egypt and the Sudan. After they had been evacuated many of the displaced
Nubians were completely uprooted and disorientated in their new environ-
ments, suffering physically as well as mentally. Some never gave up and tried
to settle again on land close to their own, which they had lost. However, the
considerable fluctuations in the surface area of the reservoir, dependent on
the varying Nile discharge between dry and wet phases in the river’s catch-
ment areas, make it difficult for them to settle on its shores. The establish-
ment of floating settlements has been discussed, but the technical problems
have not been solved so far. FAO, the UN organization, sponsored a project
for resettling people along the lake in villages that were named after the old
Nubian places, most of which were drowned in the waters of the lake, like
Jerf Hussein, Toshka, Kalabsha, Abu Simbel, Qostol, Adendan, El-Allaqi and
Es-Sayala. Al-Ahram, the semi-official Egyptian newspaper (6 January 1993: 3),
reported under the heading, ‘Migration to the south – cultivation at the lake
is our only way to solve the problem of unemployment’ on the successful
reclamation of 1 million feddans (420,000 ha) of land by the shores of the
lake, and the fact that about 1,800 families from the Nile valley had received
land free of cost to settle there. In addition, they were said to have received
starting capital of LE 500 (c. £100 sterling), as well as long-term interest-free
loans for buying tractors, water pumps and pipes. The government promised,
among other things, the construction of roads, schools and hospitals, and a
guaranteed supply of food. The project was not aimed at the Nubians who
had lost their land; on the contrary, they had to see it being given away to
strangers. If the project were successful, it would lead to the pollution of
the storage lake, for example with bilharzia and other water-borne diseases.
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