Text: Lyudmila Smerkovich | 2015-07-22 | Photo: Rita Willaert / flickr; Stuart Rankin / flickr; gil7416 / dollarphotoclub; cliff hellis / flickr; unknown; Fredhsu / wikipedia; GeneralMills / flickr (“Progress thru Research,” Vol. 20, No. 3, 1966) | 9651
When the construction of the Aswan Dam on the great Nile River began in the 1960s of the last century, the Temples of Abu Simbel, dedicated to Pharaoh Ramses II and his beloved wife Nefertari and built three thousand years ago, were under the threat of flooding. The operation to save the temples has become one of the largest international engineering and construction projects of the last century.
In contact with
Classmates
Ramesses (Ramses) II the Great - the pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, who ruled approximately in 1279-1213 BC. and received the honorary title A-nakhtu, which means "winner". Among the Greeks, his name turned into Sesostris, the hero of legendary tales and the world conqueror.
Aswan Dam
The civilization of Egypt, one of the most ancient on our planet, arose in the delta and on the banks of the Nile River - masterful, powerful, annually flooding a huge area, thereby bringing fertile silt and, consequently, huge crops. Since ancient times, the Nile has been a source of wealth and prosperity for Egypt and, at the same time, the cause of natural disasters. In 1959, the government of Egypt (at that historical moment - the United Arab Republic) decided to build a huge dam, designed to regulate the water level in the river, as well as to produce electricity. The construction of the Aswan Dam was financed and undertaken by the USSR, about two thousand Soviet engineers, workers, and managers worked in Egypt at a time. The HPP project was developed and tested on a model in the Soviet Union.
The scale of the Aswan hydropower complex can be estimated from its technical passport: “Electro-mechanical equipment: the number of units is 12. Power is 2100 megawatts, electricity generation is 8 billion kilowatt-hours per year. The complex includes a rockfill dam with a clay core 111 meters high and 3820 meters long, 520 of which are in the channel part. The volume of the embankment is 41.4 million cubic meters, the inlet channel is 1150 meters long, the outlet channel is 538 meters long, tunnel conduits are 282 meters long and 15 meters in diameter, a flood spillway in the form of a concrete spillway dam 288 meters long, a reservoir with a useful volume of 114 cubic kilometers . Under the base of the dam, a unique impervious curtain 165 meters deep was created, for the construction of which an original system of underwater compaction of sandy soils was specially developed.”
In addition to generating electricity, which is still enough for the whole of Egypt, the Aswan Dam made it possible for the country to transfer 300,000 hectares from seasonal to permanent irrigation and to develop another 600,000 hectares of new land due to water reserves in the man-made Lake Nasser. However, in addition to the obvious national economic benefits, the new hydroelectric power station created several new problems that did not appear immediately - the natural balance of the movement of silt and sand along the Nile was disturbed; its delta began to gradually collapse; lands that do not naturally receive annual fertilizer during the flood began to become salted. These problems are gradually being solved through new projects that support the ecology of the great river, and only one loss should have become irreversible not only for Egypt, but for the entire earthly civilization. The flood zone formed during the launch of the dam included unique monuments of the ancient Egyptian kingdoms, in particular the temple complex of Abu Simbel, built thirteen centuries BC.
sacred mountain
Judging by the archaeological data, this place was considered sacred even before Pharaoh Ramesses II decided to commemorate his military victories and just rule by building majestic temples. Many centuries later, when the temples were buried under tons of sand, Arab sailors called this rock Abu Simbel - "father of bread", because one of the fragments of a stone bas-relief was visible on the shore: a man in an ancient Egyptian apron, resembling a measure of bread.
The temples of Ramesses were rediscovered only in 1813, when the Swiss explorer Burckhardt, traveling up the Nile in disguise as an Arab, reached the third rapids of the great river. He drew attention to the huge heads crowned with crowns of pharaohs, protruding from the sand, but the guides could not tell anything intelligible about these statues. Burckhardt announced his discovery, and an expedition of the famous adventurer and treasure hunter Belzoni immediately followed in his footsteps. Under his direction, the temples were excavated from the sand, and although no expected treasures were found in them, Belzoni wrote in his diary: “We entered the largest and most beautiful crypt in Nubia. Our surprise increased even more when it turned out that it was not only a very large, but also a magnificently decorated temple - with bas-reliefs, paintings and statues.
In hieroglyphic inscriptions, Abu Simbel is called the "sacred mountain", and the whole complex of buildings and fortifications is called the "fortress-city of Ramses". An inscription is carved on one of the columns of the Small Temple: “Ramses, strong in truth, favorite of Amon, created this divine dwelling for his beloved wife Nefertari.”
The temple complex of Abu Simbel really turned out to be magnificent - both from a historical and artistic point of view, and from an engineering point of view. Both temples - Big and Small, are carved into a sandstone rock about 100 meters high. Both temples have beautiful bas-reliefs, wall paintings and many cryptograms and inscriptions praising the pharaoh. The large temple consists of 14 rooms, penetrating into the thickness of the rock by 60 meters. The largest hall, decorated with eight statues of the god-pharaoh, measures 18 by 16 meters and rises to a height of 8 meters. The main hall depicts mostly battle scenes. Some of the paintings on the walls of the hall depict the victories of the pharaoh in Libya and Nubia, but the most significant scene is the battle of Kadet, where the decisive battle of the Egyptians with the Hittites took place.
The temple was built in such a way that twice a year the rising morning sun pierces the entire suite of underground halls with its rays and illuminates the statues of the sanctuary. During the transfer of the temple, it was possible to restore its structure so that this property was preserved.
At the entrance to the Great Temple there are four colossal statues twenty meters high. Topped with crowns, with ureas on their foreheads and false beards, the colossi seated on thrones symbolize the highest power. Under their feet are the defeated enemies of the pharaoh. The gods of the Nile are depicted on the thrones of the colossi, who bind papyrus and lily together - a sign of the unity of both lands, Lower and Upper Egypt. At the feet of the colossi are female figures that look very fragile compared to the huge statues of the king - these are images of Nefertari, the beloved wife of Ramesses, his mother and daughters.
On the thigh of one of the statues of Ramses, an inscription made with knives in ancient Greek was found, which historians attribute to the 6th century BC: “When King Psammetich came to Elephantine, those who came with Psammetich, the son of Theokles, wrote this. They sailed by ship through Kerkis as long as the river allowed. Potasimto led the foreigners, Amasis led the Egyptians. Archon son of Amoibih and Pelek son of Udam wrote this." The Ionian mercenaries who immortalized themselves in this act of vandalism left one of the oldest examples of Greek writing.
The small temple is more graceful and feminine - it is dedicated to Nefertari, "the one for whom the sun shines." It has only 5 halls, also decorated with statues of the gods and the royal couple. As the writer and traveler Jacques Christian writes in his book “In the Land of the Pharaohs”: “Ramses is present in the sanctuary of his wife, he performs two functions there: a military leader, the winner of the forces of darkness, and a high priest who performs sacrifices. The columns here are crowned with the faces of the goddess Hathor, the ruler of love and joy, there are many images of flowers around, the high silhouette of Nefertari sanctifies everything around with its noble beauty. At the entrance to the temple, a pharaoh is depicted offering flowers to Hathor and the queen in the form of the goddess Isis. On the other side of the gate, Ramesses protects Nefertari, he strikes the Nubians and Asiatics, imposes tribute on the enemies and pays honors to Amon-Ra and Horus.
All these cultural treasures of the ancient civilization, perfectly preserved under the thickness of sand, were to perish irretrievably at the bottom of the lake-reservoir Nasser. But the rescue of the temples of Abu Simbel was declared a worldwide action under the auspices of UNESCO. A hasty design of the rescue operation began.
moving
Several ideas were proposed for the preservation of the temples of Ramses II and Nefertari - from the construction of a high dam that protects the territory of the temple complex from the waters of an artificial lake, and ending with a transparent cap through which tourists from river boats could admire the beauty of the ancient statues that were at the bottom. The most attractive option was the project of Italian engineers, who proposed using heavy-duty jacks to lift and move the entire rock with temples carved into it, but this idea was too expensive to implement. As a result, they settled on the project of the Swedish company Vattenbyggnadsbyran (VBB), which consisted in the fact that the temple would be sawn into blocks, transported and assembled in a new place.
This project had its risks and difficulties. Firstly, it was necessary to have time to saw and transport the blocks before the water was released into the reservoir, and there was not much time left before that. Secondly, there was a risk that the cuts would open internal cracks and cavities in the stone or damage the soft sandstone so that it would not be possible to reassemble the old structure. This problem was solved by strengthening the natural stone with polymer compounds in all suspicious places. And, finally, the new place for the temples was different from their native hill, the chosen site had yet to be turned into the likeness of the rock on which the temples were originally built.
Among the sculptural scenes of the Great Temple there is an image of the royal children, lined up in two rows - daughters on one side, sons on the other. Below is a small inscription: "Made by the sculptor of King Piai, son of Ha-Nefer." This signature is invaluable, since the sculptors of ancient Egypt very rarely indicated their names.
At the first stage of preparation, the temples were measured in detail, photographed, and then, according to the drawn up drawings, the lines for cutting the stone were planned. The area around the old and new temples was also mapped in detail. Along the way, geographical and geological studies were carried out, including the properties of local sandstone and the behavior of groundwater, excavations and earthworks were carried out. Since the construction of the Aswan Dam was taking place in parallel, the water level in the Nile rose by several meters per year. A temporary dam was erected to protect the construction site that Abu Simbel had become, but the waters of the Nile forced the engineers to work faster and faster - the territory of the temple complex was soon to be flooded.
Before temples were divided into blocks with the help of special thin saws used for sawing marble, special security measures were taken. Strong steel scaffolding was installed inside the temple halls, mounds of sand were created in front of the facades of the temples, and protective screens were installed above the facades; all the stones lying there were removed from the slopes above the temples. By October 1965, the “roof” was completely removed from the temples - the natural rock that served as their vault, and they began to transfer the statues and details of the interior decoration. On October 10, the dismantling of the huge statues of the pharaoh in front of the entrance to the temple began. A journalist who was present at the time wrote in his diary: “The sun rose slightly above the horizon when the crane operator received the order to start. Slowly, slowly, the god king's face separated from his ears... It was a sight that I will never forget. For a moment I was seized by the wild thought that the great pharaoh was trying to destroy the modern barbarians. Hanging on a cable, the huge face slowly turned around its axis. It seemed that the expression of the face under the rays of the sun was transformed by the play of light and shadow ... Then the pharaoh's face was gently laid on the bed of a special trailer, so that he would take him to the platform where the other parts of the temple were already stored.
Each of the blocks was numbered in order to assemble temples in a new place without visible changes. When the internal structure of the temples was completely recreated on a specially cut huge terrace, they were covered with a reinforced concrete cap and a hill was poured on top. During assembly, the blocks were additionally strengthened with a resinous compound, which was pumped into the drilled holes so that the brittle sandstone would not crumble after sawing, transportation and installation. When recreating the temples, new questions arose - is it worth it to “improve” what is destroyed by time, for example, is it not possible to return the head of one of the colossi that fell back in antiquity to its place? How to mask the effects of shifting? The director of the Egyptian Archaeological Authority wrote at the time of the completion of the project: “The damage done to the pharaoh will be healed. Joint joints will be filled with mortar up to a few millimeters from the surface. We could do even more: not only heal the wounds, but also make the stitches invisible. But will this be fair to our ancestors, to ourselves and to those who will come here after us?”
The relocation operation took three years - from 1965 to 1968, but until 1972, work was underway to bring the landscape around the temple complex to a form corresponding to the previous position of the temples.
Now the temples look almost the same as before they were moved to a new place, and the broken head of the colossus rests in the same place where it was before - at its feet. Thousands of tourists visit this place, no less popular than the pyramids of the pharaohs, although not as ancient. This monument of ancient Egyptian art today is also a monument to the glory of the talent and work of engineers and workers, people from different countries who joined their efforts to move the temples of Ramesses and Nefertari. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat said of the rescue of Abu Simbel: "The peoples of the Earth are capable of performing miracles when they unite with good intentions."
Temples of Abu Simbel and the history of their salvation in numbers:
The facade of the temples is carved into the rock 31 meters high and 38 meters wide. An ornament in the form of twenty-two baboons is carved above the facade, welcoming the sunrise. The size of each of these monkeys is about 2.5 meters.
The facade of the large temple is decorated with four statues of the pharaoh, depicted sitting on a throne. The height of these statues is about 20 meters, and the head of each of the sculptures reaches four meters. The weight of each statue exceeds 1200 tons.
The facade of the Small Temple is decorated with six full-length figures, each of which is 11 meters high. Between the statues of Pharaoh Ramesses II are placed statues of his wife Nefertari. This is a rare case of the depiction of the pharaoh's wife in sculptures of the same size as the figures of the king himself.
More than 50 countries of the world took part in the project to move the temples of Abu Simbel.
The cost of the temple relocation project was about $42 million in 1968 prices.
The cave temple complex was moved 65 meters higher and 200 meters further from the river. For transportation, the temples were sawn into 1036 blocks, the weight of which reached from 5 to 20 tons.
The Aswan Dam is a marvel of engineering and cooperation of peoples in the name of technological progress. The height of the dam is one hundred and ten meters, the length is more than three kilometers, and the thickness is eight hundred meters. Its dimensions, according to Jacques Cousteau, overshadow the grandiosity of the Egyptian pyramids. But no less a miracle is a reservoir held by a dam and called "Lake Nasser" in honor of the President of Egypt, during whose reign the Aswan hydroelectric complex was built.
The agreement between Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and Egyptian President Abdel Nasser radically changed the entire history of the Nile. But Khrushchev and Nasser were not the first rulers who influenced the life of the great river - from the most ancient times, the rulers of Egypt sought to tame the Nile, to force it to serve man.
The story of the taming of the Nile: nilometers and ancient projects
Nilometers
A long time ago, when the great ancient Egyptian civilization was just emerging, during the Holocene era, Africa had a humid climate due to heavy rainfall. Then, around the third millennium BC, the climate became arid, and then there was a mass migration of people to the Nile valley, closer to the river. A sharp surge in the population in the valley forced people to use irrigation - irrigation of cultivated fields, divert river water to fields, build canals and dams.
All this required constant measurements of the water level in the Nile and monitoring the regularity and intensity of its spills. Then nilometers appeared - special measuring pits, where the water level was determined by serifs. With the help of nilometers, the timing and duration of floods and flood zones were also determined. The most famous nilometers that have survived to this day are: the “House of Floods” and the nilometer on the island of Roda (Cairo), the nilometer on the island of Elephantine (in the vicinity of Aswan) and others (for more details on measurement traditions and surviving nilometers, see the article “Nile and nilometer: ancient beliefs and contemporary examples"). At present, daily observations of the hydrological regime of the Nile are carried out at almost three hundred hydrological stations in Egypt, Sudan and Uganda.
The oldest projects
The very first “registered” dam, about which historical information has been preserved, was built by the legendary ruler of the Old Kingdom, Pharaoh Menes, who planted Egypt more than five thousand years ago. This dam protected the ancient capital of the country, the city of Memphis, not only from floods, but also from attacks by warlike nomads.
Pharaoh Amenemhat I, who ruled in the era of the Middle Kingdom, more than four thousand years ago, is rightfully considered the second great hydraulic builder. Amenemhat and his architects noticed a valley near modern Cairo, called the Fayum, and decided to create an artificial reservoir in its place. This is how Meridovo Lake appeared in the Fayum oasis, which for a long time was considered one of the wonders of the world. A whole city grew up around Lake Meridova, the area still remains a beautiful man-made region, a true oasis in the desert.
During the famous XVIII dynasty of Amnhotep and Ramesses, Egyptian peasants - fellahs - began to use mechanisms to irrigate their fields. They used shadufs - gates that raise water to the fields due to manual efforts or the power of animals. Amazingly, the oldest shadufs are still used by the fellahs to irrigate their fields. The past and the future side by side with each other: local women continue to wear luggage on their heads and wash clothes in the river against the backdrop of the grandiose Aswan Dam. A teenager beats the water with a pole to drive as many fish as possible into the net, just as his distant ancestor did. The old peasant, like his ancestors, with the help of a shaduf (lift) with a counterweight, continues to pump the water of the Nile to the fields.
“The use of land in ancient Egypt is a prime example of agriculture based entirely on irrigation. The high development of the ancient Egyptian civilization is partly due to the fact that throughout the entire dynastic period (and a good two thousand years) the water level in the Nile was consistently high. Of the eight hundred and twenty spills recorded by the nilometer on the island of Roda, more than seventy percent were normal (water filled all the prepared basins and subsided at the right time for sowing), a little over twenty were low, and only five percent became floods ”(I. Springel).
In the Ptolemaic era, the mechanization of irrigation caused a real agrarian revolution. A water (Archimedean) wheel appeared, which is also used to this day: with the help of a primitive water wheel and a bull harnessed to it, a modern peasant can irrigate up to five hectares of land per day. The wheel and shadufs made it possible to significantly expand the area of irrigated and cultivated land.
New time projects
The tradition of irrigating and cultivating the fields in Egypt developed very slowly and remained almost unchanged for five thousand years, but the nineteenth century came - the beginning of technical take-off and great technical projects, and the Nile also underwent changes. The initiator of the change in the irrigation system was the ruler of Egypt, Pasha Muhammad Ali (1769-1849).
During his reign, significant areas of land in the Delta “were transferred to permanent irrigation. The use of arable land throughout the year meant that water had to be available even when the Nile was low. Hydraulic construction, which affected the entire ecosystem of the Nile, included the construction of a number of dams to raise the water level, store it, and subsequently produce electricity ”(I. Springel).
During the reign (1805-1848) of Muhammad Ali, two dams were built - Rosetta and Damietta, the latter, by the way, still regulates the flow in the Delta. “The next dam was built in 1902 in Asyut. In 1909, a dam was erected at Esna (it was rebuilt in 1947 and most recently replaced). In 1930, the construction of the dam at Nag Hammadi was completed” (I. Springel).
Aswan Dam
The construction of the high-rise Aswan Dam in the sixties of the twentieth century allowed the whole of Egypt to completely switch to year-round irrigation. The dam in Aswan began to be built as early as 1902, in 1912 its height was increased so much that the volume of water in the reservoir increased by a widow. And finally, in 1934, the height of the dam was increased five times more. In the sixties, several more dams were built, and the Aswan hydrocascade was formed, supplying millions of people with electricity and irrigation water.
Interestingly, Nasser's ambitious project to build a high-rise dam met with serious resistance from the United States, under pressure from which the World Bank refused to provide Egypt with a loan for the construction, despite the agreements reached. Then Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal in order to obtain funds for the independent implementation of the project, but the money coming to the treasury from the operation of the canal was not enough. As a result, Egypt turned to the USSR for help, and the result of this more than twenty years of cooperation was the construction of the high-rise Aswan dam. At the end of the eighties, Egypt decided to modernize the hydrocascade and install more powerful generators. It was decided to purchase hydraulic turbines from the United States, but it soon became clear that the cascade worked more efficiently with Soviet turbine generators.
This international project allowed a man to take control of the Nile in his own hands. With the help of the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex, it was possible to solve a set of tasks, including: establishing control over the water level in the Nile during seasonal floods, generating up to ten billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year; create reservoirs to store water for a long period.
Today, the Aswan waterworks pumps water to irrigate cotton and maize fields. A network of irrigation canals has divided the desert into regularly drawn fertile rectangles, where sand reigned now an oasis blooms. As a result, all new areas become suitable for agriculture. Thanks to the implementation of the land irrigation project in the Kom Ombo region, their area in Egypt has increased by eight hundred thousand hectares.
Saving monuments from flooding
However, the construction of a high-rise dam not only solved many of the problems of Egypt, but also gave rise to new ones, the main of which was the flooding of monuments. At the bottom of the reservoir between the two dams of the Aswan hydroelectric power station, there were priceless monuments of the historical heritage of the past. Some were rescued - dismantled and transported to a higher place, but a significant part of them went under water.
Nearly half a million people lived on the lands subject to flooding and numerous architectural monuments of ancient Kush, Nubian and Egyptian cultures were located. “The Nubians were resettled in newly developed lands in southern Egypt and northern Sudan, and the threat looming over their temples, fortresses and tombs caused a large-scale international campaign to protect the archaeological sites classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site ... In 1960, UNESCO launched an international campaign to save the monuments of Nubia, appealing to governments, public and private organizations, to all people of good will with a request to help in carrying out an action that had no analogues in history. The funds raised as a result of this campaign made it possible to transfer to higher sites all the monuments, including the temples of Kalabsha, Bethel Wall, Kertassi, El Moharrakka, El Cebu, El Dhaka. Of particular concern was the fate of the temple of Isis on the island of Philae - a grandiose complex of monuments dating back to the time of the last pharaohs and Roman conquests. The construction of a caisson for underwater work around the island of Philae and the transfer of the temple of Isis to the island of Agilika were completed by 1979. Equally impressive was the rescue of the rock-cut ancient Egyptian temples at Abu Simbel in 1967. This program cost forty (!) million US dollars (UNESCO and the Egyptian government divided the costs in half) ”(I. Springel).
The majestic giants - the colossi of Ramses II, due to the turn of history, almost ended up in the depths of the waters, at the bottom of a man-made reservoir. The kings and gods of the past were saved, which cannot be said about the dwellings of people who were forced to leave their native places.
Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser for tourists
Dam visit
The high-rise Aswan Dam is located thirteen kilometers south of Aswan and is open to the public, including by car, from seven in the morning to five in the evening every day. Entry to the dam is paid, but inexpensive, the fee is five Egyptian pounds. On the western side of the dam rises the Soviet-Egyptian memorial, which is a giant tower in the form of a lotus flower, symbolizing cooperation and benefit embodied in the dam. The memorial is decorated with a bas-relief made in the style of socialist realism. There is a high-altitude observation deck from which a breathtaking view of Lake Nasser opens; The playground can accommodate four people and can only be accessed by lift.
Former citizens of the USSR may be interested in visiting the tourist pavilion located on the eastern side of the dam. A huge fifteen-meter model of the dam is stored here, construction plans are presented in Russian and Arabic. It is especially interesting to see a selection of photographs dedicated to the grandiose project to relocate the temples of Abu Simbel.
In order to fully experience the boldness of the idea of the builders of the dam, you can stop in the middle of the dam, where its scale is clearly visible: almost four kilometers long and forty meters wide; the volume of building materials spent on the dam is seventeen times more than it took to build the pyramid of Cheops (Khufu). True, because of the high fence, you will not be able to look down to appreciate the dizzying height of the hydraulic structure. But, peering into the distance, from the south side you can see the temple of Kalabsha behind Lake Nasser; and from the north, to see a giant two thousand megawatt power plant and a network of irrigation canals that allow water to return back to the Nile after it has worked on the turbines.
When visiting the dam, it should be remembered that this is a carefully guarded object, which is of great strategic importance for Egypt and the entire continent. Suffice it to say that in the event of a catastrophic failure of the dam, most of the population of Egypt will be washed into the Mediterranean Sea. All surrounding heights are under the careful control of the Egyptian armed forces, and therefore movement along the Aswan Dam is possible only in groups and with the permission of the police.
Lake Nasser
Lake Nasser is the world's largest reservoir, stretching for five hundred kilometers, the depth of which in some places reaches one hundred and eighty meters. Due to its gigantic size, the lake looks more like an inland sea, all the more interesting because it is an inland sea of Africa. Lake Nasser offers tourists a range of experiences for different tastes, from visiting temples to fishing. On the islands and the coast of the lake, a number of monuments have been preserved, saved from flooding by the reservoir through the efforts of many countries and international organizations. By using the services of motor boats and cruise ships, you can travel through the African inland sea and see famous sites such as Philae Island, the temples of Kalabsha, the Lion's Gorge (Wadi es Sebua), the temples of Amada and Derra and the tomb of Pennut, where you will be invited to take pictures with a real Nile crocodile, albeit very small. You will need at least a whole day to see all the sights of Lake Nasser, and we offer you a concise story about the cruise and fishing in the article “Traveling on Lake Nasser: Filet, Kalabsha, Wadi es Sebua” (article address on the site).
Border between past and future
The high-rise Aswan dam and the monument of friendship of peoples represent the future of Egypt. For more than forty-five centuries, Aswan has been a frontier fortress, now it is also on the border - on the border of the past and the future. It has become a power generation center and a tourist destination. This is a city of young engineers and new opportunities.
Here man invades the life of the great river, drawing a line between the past and the present. In the places of ancient burial places, trade flourishes, industry develops, new buildings grow and monuments of the past lose their grandeur. Dry air, which protected the stone of ancient palaces and pyramids from destruction, is filled with emissions from factories and factories, industrial pollution is so great that now the inhabitants of large cities themselves suffer from it. Smoke from factory work obscures the silhouettes of the pyramids, the Nile no longer brings fertile silt to its banks, instead it throws out only industrial and domestic waste.
For millions of years, in the distant mountains, with rare drops of water, the great river Nile begins its journey to the sea. All the inhabitants of the desert prayed to the deity of the Nile, Hapi. They did not know that the river itself, and life on its banks, were possible only thanks to the rains falling in the distant mountains. From time immemorial, both tribes of people and wild animals lived on the banks of the Nile, many of them today resemble biblical legends - they turned out to be so defenseless in the face of civilization, and no matter how they try to grab hold of the immutability of their way of life, their days are numbered.
The Nile is that new border that runs between the present and the future, rushing its waters not into eternity, but into a world full of the roar of turbines and powerful motors.
Here is an insurmountable dam in the way of the river. The river splits into thousands of streams and canals, giving water to irrigate the land. The river god is subdued. Trying to subjugate it to himself, a person builds more and more dams.
The power over the river belongs to the people. It remains only to calculate the cost of effort. Ancient pyramids and cities, like dams, served as a symbol of human power, a symbol of superiority over the great river. The stone walls were covered with hieroglyphs, the libraries were full of knowledge, the ancient priests watched the movement of the stars, and the people worshiped the gods and created their images.
But the greatness of man is so short-lived. The great empire collapsed, leaving only the memory of futile attempts to gain immortality, that kings are also mortal, that earthly power is just an illusion, that new technologies and miracles will not help us fight overpopulation.
Having conquered the sacred Nile, man found himself defenseless in the face of eternity. In ancient times, the Nile was often said like this: "I am everything, I am past, present and future." Today, this great river once again defines the future of Egypt and other African countries, drawing the line between the past and the future.
Literature
- Film by Jacques Yves Cousteau "Nile - the river of the gods", CJSC "SOYUZ Video", 2006
- I. Springel. Great Projects in the Nile Basin // Ecology and Life // University
South Valley, Aswan, Egypt. - Materials of news agencies and mass media, 2006 - 2010
- Egypt / ROUGH GUIDES / Per. from English. T.G. Lisitsina, G.S. Makharadze, A.V. Shevchenko. – M.: AST: Astrel, 2009.
- Cox S., Davis S. Ancient Egypt from A to Z / Per. from English. A. Bushueva. – M.: AST MOSCOW, 2008.
I have a bad attitude towards conservationists. Usually it's a paid scam. But sometimes, though occasionally, they are right. I'll give an example:
The height of the Cold War. The Caribbean crisis has just died down. As if mocking the proletarians from the fraternal socialist countries, the star-striped power engineers launch here and there their thin capitalist one hundred and ten volts instead of the strong worker-peasant two hundred and twenty. The situation is heating up. And Nikita Sergeevich, as usual, without hesitation for a minute, makes a bold hydraulic decision ...
...Nile is the longest river in the world, its length is 6,650 km, the basin area is 3,400,000 km;. The Nile flows from south to north and has three main tributaries: the White Nile, the Blue Nile and the Atbara. The most distant source of the Nile is the Kagera River, which originates in Burundi and, being the border between Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda, flows into Lake Victoria. From here the Nile Victoria originates, which then crosses the deserts of Kyoga and Albert and from the area called Nimule crosses the border of Sudan. This section of the Nile is called the White Nile. The Blue Nile is born in central Ethiopia and merges with the White Nile near Khartoum. The Blue Nile carries water that causes floods in Egypt and fertilizes the land. The third tributary of the Nile, the Albar, merges with the Nile in the northeast of Khartem. Having reached Lake Nasser in Egypt near Cairo, the Nile begins to form a delta. The Nile flows into the sea from 7 channels, 5 of them form small lakes. Lakes Rosetta and Damietta have a depth of 10 meters. The width of the delta of the Nile River at its confluence with the sea between the cities of Alexandria and Dumyat is 300 km.
Without a reservoir, the Nile overflowed its banks every year during the summer, overflowing with water from the depths of Africa. These floods carried fertile silt and minerals that made the soil around the Nile extremely fertile and ideal for agriculture. True, in a high-water year, entire fields could be completely washed away. And in the low-water year, famine was widespread due to drought. But, in general, the Nile fed Egypt for thousands of years ...
The best definition of the Nile River comes from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who in his book The River War compares the Nile River and its basin to a large palm tree. As Churchill writes, the roots of this tree are "in Lakes Victoria, Albert and the Sadd region, the trunk is in Egypt and the Sudan, and the Nile Delta forms its branches." Currently, Egypt uses about 70% of the water resources of the Nile, Sudan - 25%, the remaining 8 countries account for 5% of the river's water. Egypt pursues an agricultural policy based on 99% irrigation based on the waters of the Nile.
The purpose of the Aswan project was to prevent floods, provide Egypt with electricity and create a network of irrigation canals for agriculture. Well, Nikita Sergeevich loved to raise virgin soil. Well, don’t feed him bread - let him raise virgin soil. Even in Egypt...
After the construction of the dam was completed, the area of irrigated land in Egypt increased by a third. Due to the ability to regulate the flow, many old lands received water all year round and produce three crops instead of one. Plus the hydroelectric dam, with a capacity of 2.1 million kW, which has become the largest source of energy in the country. Because of these reasons, the Egyptians still tolerate the existence of the Aswan dam, although their patience is already coming to an end. And that's why:
The Upper Dam was completed on July 21, 1970, and, since then, fertile silt and minerals began to settle in front of the dam, in Lake Nasser. And, accordingly, they stopped coming to the fields. But, gradually, raising the level of Lake Nasser. Not due to water, but due to the silt deposited on its bottom. Which slowly but surely rises to the level of the upper edge of the dam. And it is impossible to increase the height of the dam - due to the increase in the weight of the body of the dam, its base is deformed.
To prevent the buildup of silt in Lake Nasser, the Toshka Canal was built to divert the waters of the Nile with the silt it contains to the west of Lake Nasser. But this is a temporary solution, since the Toshka lowland will sooner or later be filled with the same silt.
But the problems of Lake Nasser are only flowers. Berries, caused by silt in Lake Nasser, flourished in the Nile Delta itself.
Almost the entire population of Egypt lives in the Nile Delta, which makes up 0.03% of the country's territory. As a result of the lack of fertile silt in the fields, the fertility of the Nile Delta began to decline year by year. But it's not only that. Prior to the construction of the dam, silt was carried out to the sea, and, again as a consequence, stopped the erosion of the coast by the sea throughout the eastern Mediterranean. After the construction of the dam, the removal of silt into the sea stopped and, of course, as a result, every storm now erodes the sea coast in the Nile Delta region.
This notorious delta itself is not very large. A little north of Cairo, 150 km south of its confluence with the sea, the Nile River splits into branches. That is, the Nile Delta, approximately, is an isosceles triangle with a side of 150 kilometers. The area of the Nile Delta is 24 thousand km; And, for example, the Kingdom of the Netherlands covers an area of 41.5 thousand square meters. km, that is, almost twice the area of the Nile Delta. And lives in this supposedly densely populated country, only 16 million people. And in half of Holland, called the Nile Delta, almost the entire population of Egypt lives - somewhere around 80 million today. That is, Holland, in comparison with the Nile Delta, is a sparsely populated country. Almost uninhabited...
Throughout the eastern Mediterranean, there is significant erosion of coastlines due to a lack of sand, which was previously brought by the Nile. In Israel, for example, because of this, there is an active erosion of the beaches, and measures to protect them cost a lot of money. The same problem occurs in Lebanon, Cyprus and Syria. And even on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, the process of erosion of the beaches is quite noticeable.
According to Hamdi Hussein-Khalifa, head of the ministry's think tank, much of the Nile Delta could be flooded before the end of this century (the Nile Delta is flat as a table and sits just above sea level). And the Minister of Ecology of Egypt, Maged George, said that 50% of the area of the Nile Delta could be flooded. The reason is the erosion of the coast.
But it is not necessary to wait until the end of the century. If the dam is blown up, then the entire Nile Delta with tens of millions of Egyptians living on it will plunge into the abyss of water for a couple of days. In the post-Pliocene period, the Nile valley was a narrow, 15 kilometers wide, sea bay, deeply cutting into the mainland. In the event of an explosion of the Aswan Dam, this narrow bay will be filled with water from Lake Nasser. And blowing up a dam is easy. A small break in the dam built by an arc is enough, as the resulting water stream will wash everything away.
True, in a few days the water level in the delta will drop. But soil fertility will increase dramatically. Because the soil level in the Nile Delta will rise by a meter and a half because of the silt that the turbulent waters will bring with them from the unexpectedly empty Lake Nasser.
It is for this reason that Egypt became the first Arab country to make peace with Israel.
Problems such as the use of artificial fertilizers, which, unlike river silt, cause chemical pollution of the soil and groundwater, are no longer discussed. As well as the almost completely stopped fishing in the Nile, which is just as polluted by all the same fertilizers.
The problem of salinity in the Nile Delta is exacerbated by the general reduction in runoff (a significant part of the Nile water evaporates from the surface of Lake Nasser). The city of Aswan, where the dam was built, is the southernmost city in Egypt. Located on the banks of the Nile, about a thousand kilometers south of the river delta, close to the border with Sudan. Aswan is the Sahara desert. That is very hot and zero humidity. As a result, the evaporation of precious fresh water from the surface of Lake Nasser is enormous. The loss of much of the Nile's freshwater runoff due to evaporation from Lake Nasser dramatically reduced the discharge of Nile freshwater into the delta.
As a result, salt water invades the delta further and further. Some agricultural lands have already been destroyed as a result of flooding with salty groundwater. And the area of such saline soils in the Nile Delta is growing rapidly. The Nile land, the so-called Gath, is dried silt. Gath is very fertile, more fertile than chernozem, and much more so. But this is until it is salted. Nothing will grow on salted gef. And it is almost impossible to restore the salted gef.
Mediterranean fisheries were also affected by the construction of the dam, as the marine ecosystem was heavily dependent on the rich flow of phosphates and silicates from the Nile. Since the construction of the dam, Mediterranean catches have dropped by almost half.
In Egypt, the incidence of schistosomiasis has increased dramatically in recent years, as a large amount of algae in Lake Nasser contributes to the reproduction of snails - carriers of this disease. The ecology of the Nile Valley is generally an extremely fragile thing. Something happened to the Nile water - and the consequences are cyclopean. According to the book of Exodus, God brought disaster upon Egypt as a punishment for the Pharaoh's refusal to free the Jews from slavery. There were ten disasters, or Executions: first, the water in the Nile turned into blood, then the invasions of toads, midges and dog flies followed, then the pestilence of cattle, then the bodies of the Egyptians were covered with ulcers and abscesses, then a fiery hail fell upon the country, then an invasion of locusts , then an impenetrable darkness fell on Egypt, and then all the first-born, except for the Jews, perished in the country.
Yes, the fiery hail and the darkness that followed were apparently caused by the eruption of the Santorin volcano on the island of the same name in the Mediterranean Sea. But everything else, in fact, all these Egyptian executions, are environmental disasters. As a result, the general situation in Egypt deteriorated to such an extent that the Jews left the country.
... The Nile Delta, I repeat, was formed on the site of the bay, gradually filled with sediments of silt from the Nile. And now, after the cessation of the flow of this very silt, this, while the nameless bay is gradually returning to life.
The Egyptians are hastily developing a 20-year program to combat the advance of the sea. Back in 2007, a dam project was proposed that would not only separate salt and fresh water (above and below ground), but also raise the coast by two meters. True, its implementation requires more money than the entire budget of Egypt for 10 years. However, its effectiveness is extremely doubtful ...
In 1929, when the region was under the control of Great Britain, a document was prepared regulating the use of the water resources of the Nile, according to which Egypt is practically the owner of the Nile River. After Sudan's independence in 1959, the agreement was revised. Sudan was granted the right to use 1/4 of the waters of the Nile. However, in the same year, the amendments made to the document once again emphasize that Egypt is the only dominant power on the river. According to the agreement, none of the countries without the permission of Egypt will not be able to build dams and irrigation canals on the Nile River, drain land for agriculture and take any action that could reduce the volume of water in the river. According to the document, Egypt can use the right of veto in the implementation of any project related to the waters of the river. It is clear that the countries located in the upper reaches of the Nile are not going to put up with such a blatant violation of their sovereignty.
In addition to Egypt and Sudan, the waters of the Nile are also used by Ethiopia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and Eritrea. After Sudan separated from Egypt, in 1959 an agreement was signed between the countries, according to which 87% of the waters of the Nile were divided between Egypt and Sudan. Meanwhile, the countries located at the source of the Nile note that at the time of the conclusion of the treaty they were British colonies and, of course, no one took into account their interests. The African countries of the Nile Basin since 2004 began to make demands regarding the construction of dams, power plants, as well as the implementation of agricultural projects based on an irrigation system. Noting that the agreement was signed in 1929 by Great Britain, and the colonial period was left behind, the countries demanded the signing of a new document.
PS. Due to global warming, the level of the world's oceans in general, and the Mediterranean Sea in particular, is gradually rising. Over the past century, the level of the Mediterranean Sea has risen by 20 centimeters, which has led to flooding as well as salinization of a large area of cultivated land in the Delta. By 2025, the Mediterranean Sea is likely to rise another 30 centimeters.
1) I dreamed of seeing the Aswan Dam (السد العالي) since grades 10-11, when I read about it in the lessons of World History from Nikita Zagladin's textbook. Fortunately, studying at Cairo University made it possible to get there with fellow students from RUDN University and Kazan University. For me, the fact that it is to the south of the dam that crocodiles begin to live, which did not survive to the north of it for 960 km downstream of the Nile to the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea.
2) The Nile originates at the lake. Victoria in the south of the African continent. Flowing north to the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides it into western and eastern parts, crossing Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and ending in Egypt on its way. Each of these states has its own interests in the use of its water resources. Without a reservoir, the Nile overflowed its banks every year during the summer, overflowing with the flow of east African waters. These floods carried fertile silt and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for agriculture. As the population grew along the banks of the river, the need arose to control the flow of water to protect farmland and cotton fields. The average annual flow of the Nile in the region of Sudan and Egypt is estimated at 84 billion cubic meters. The average annual flow of the river is subject to significant fluctuations. The decrease in runoff in some years reaches 45 billion cubic meters, which leads to droughts, a rise to 150 billion cubic meters. causes floods. In a high-water year, entire fields could be completely washed away, while in a low-water year, famine due to drought was widespread. The purpose of this water project was to prevent floods, provide Egypt with electricity and create a network of irrigation canals for agriculture. 
3) Engineers to help.
A feature of the hydroelectric power station is the design of spillways with water outlet not under the water level of the downstream channel, but into the atmosphere with jet discharge at a distance of 120-150 meters from the hydroelectric power station building. The flow of water thrown out by 12 spillways reaches 5000 m³ per second. The energy of the flow is extinguished by raising the jet 30 m above the water level of the tailpipe, followed by a fall into a channel about 20 m deep. For the first time in world practice, such a solution was applied during the construction of the Kuibyshevskaya HPP.
The high-rise Aswan dam consists of 3 sections. The right-bank and left-bank sections of the dam, 30 m high, have a rocky base, the channel section, 550 m long, 111 m high, has a sandy base. The thickness of the sands at the base is 130 meters. The dam was built in an existing reservoir with a depth of 35 meters without the installation of jumpers and drainage of the foundation. The dam has a flattened profile and is built from local materials. The core and ponur of the dam are made of the so-called Aswan clays. 
4) 
5) 
6) 
7) The day of the official opening of construction - January 9, 1960. On this day, the President of Egypt, pressing the red button on the remote control of the explosive device, exploded the rock in the pit of future structures. On May 15, 1964, the Nile was blocked. On this day, the construction site was visited by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, President of Algeria Ferhat Abbas and President of Iraq Abdul Salam Aref. The Upper Dam was completed on July 21, 1970, but the reservoir began to fill up already in 1964, when the first stage of the dam was completed. 
8) The grand opening and commissioning of the Aswan hydropower complex took place on January 15, 1971 with the participation of the President of the UAR Anwar Sadat, who cut the ribbon in the blue arch on the crest of the dam, and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N. V. Podgorny.
The history of this grandiose hydroelectric complex began in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye. Soviet contractors of the Egyptian project built a miniature of the future Aswan Dam (50 times less) at the Pravoberezhny quarry. For two years, the company "Dneprostroy" carried out all the necessary work, after which the necessary tests were carried out and the scientists chose a successful hydrotechnical option. More than 50 years have passed since that time, however, even now we can see the experimental construction of a dam on the territory of the Pravoberezhny quarry in Zaporozhye. 
9) After the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex, the negative consequences of the floods of 1964 and 1973, as well as the droughts of 1972-1973 and 1983-1984, were prevented. A significant number of fish farms have formed around Lake Nasser. At the time of the launch of the last unit in 1967, the hydroelectric complex produced more than half of all electricity in the country. 15% in 1988. 
10) 
11) Russian students in Aswan before a forced march to the Aswan Dam. 
12) How did the day start then? Having visited the island of Philae, we all realized that the Aswan Dam is 11 km away. At first they wanted to walk, then a taxi driver picked us up and took us to the beginning of the hydroelectric complex. In the picture - the old English dam and further - the Nile River. 
13) Hydroelectric power plant of the Great Dam. 
14) So, Firuza. 
15) "Smirnova Margarita Yurievna". Rita, if you read the text, you will immediately understand where all this comes from. 
16) Arslan. 
17) In 1966, the Government of Egypt allocated money for an international competition for the project of the Monument of Friendship between the Arab and Soviet peoples, the so-called. "Flower of Aswan", installed in 1975. Five petals of a flower rise up to 75 meters, and at a height of 46 meters they are united by a ring of an observation deck, where up to 6 people can be at the same time and where you can climb with an elevator.
The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is the most powerful hydroelectric power plant, and a power plant in general, in Russia. The grand structure is a dam, the height of which is 245 m, the width of the base is 110 m, and the length along the ridge is 1066 m. The hydroelectric power station itself is located in the picturesque foothills of the Western Sayan.
The structure of HPP facilities:
concrete arch-gravity dam 245 m high, 1066 m long, 110 m wide at the base, 25 m wide along the crest. 6 m and the right-bank blind part 298.5 m long;
dam building of hydroelectric power station;
coastal spillway.
The power of the HPP is 6400 MW, the average annual output is 23.5 billion kWh. In 2006, due to a major summer flood, the power plant generated 26.8 billion kWh of electricity.
The HPP building houses 10 radial-axial hydraulic units with a capacity of 640 MW each, operating at a design head of 194 m. The maximum static head on the dam is 220 m.
The HPP dam is unique; only one other HPP, Gergebilskaya, has a similar type of dam in Russia, but it is much smaller.
Below the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP is its counter-regulator - the Mainskaya HPP with a capacity of 321 MW, which is organizationally part of the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP.
The HPP dam forms a large Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir with a total volume of 31.34 cubic meters. km (useful volume - 15.34 cubic km) and an area of 621 sq. km. km.
The constantly renewing water from the near-station part of the giant reservoir is superior in quality to that above the reservoir - it is not without reason that trout, which cannot tolerate polluted water, successfully lives in trout farms near the hydroelectric power station. During the creation of the reservoir, 35.6 thousand hectares of agricultural land were flooded and 2717 buildings were moved. The Sayano-Shushensky Biosphere Reserve is located in the area of the reservoir.
The Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP was designed by the Lengydroproekt Institute. On August 17, 2009, a major accident occurred at the Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP, which resulted in loss of life.
Aswan Dam
The Aswan dam is sometimes called the "pyramid of the 20th century" - in terms of its scale, the structure is not inferior to the grandiose creation of the ancients. On the contrary: 17 times more stone was used to build the dam than for the pyramid of Cheops. And participated in the construction of different countries of the world.
Without a reservoir, the Nile overflowed its banks every year during the summer, overflowing with the flow of east African waters. These floods carried fertile silt and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for agriculture.
As the population grew along the banks of the river, the need arose to control the flow of water to protect farmland and cotton fields. In a high-water year, entire fields could be completely washed away, while in a low-water year, famine due to drought was widespread. The purpose of the water project - the construction of a dam and a reservoir - was to prevent floods, provide Egypt with electricity and create a network of irrigation canals for agriculture.
The first dam was built by the British in 1899, finishing in 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcox and involved several eminent engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, whose firm John Aird and Company was the main contractor. The dam was an imposing structure 1,900 meters long and 54 meters high. The initial design, as was soon found out, was inadequate, and the height of the dam was raised in two stages, in 1907-1912 and 1929-1933.
Its characteristics were as follows: the length was 2.1 km, culverts were made in it in the amount of 179 pieces. On the left side of the dam there was a lock for ferrying ships across the dam, and there was a power plant nearby.
When in 1946 the water rose almost to the level of the dam, it was decided to build a second dam 6 km up the river. Work on its design began in 1952, immediately after the revolution. At first it was assumed that the US and UK would help finance the construction by providing a loan of $270 million in exchange for Nasser's participation in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, in July 1956, both countries canceled their offer. As possible reasons for this step, a secret agreement on the supply of small arms with Czechoslovakia, which was part of the Eastern bloc, and Egypt's recognition of the People's Republic of China are cited.
After Nassernationalized the Suez Canal, intending to use tolls from passing ships to subsidize the Upper Dam project, Britain, France and Israel provoked a military conflict by occupying the canal with troops during the Suez Crisis.
But under pressure from the UN, the US and the USSR, they were forced to withdraw and leave the canal in Egyptian hands. At the height of the Cold War in the struggle for the Third World countries, the Soviet Union in 1958 offered technical assistance in the construction of the dam, with a third of the cost of the project written off due to the loyalty of the Nasser regime to the USSR. The huge dam was designed by the Soviet institute Hydroproject.
Construction began in 1960. The Upper Dam was completed on July 21, 1970, but the reservoir began to fill up already in 1964, when the first stage of the dam was completed. The reservoir endangered many archeological monuments, so a rescue operation was undertaken under the auspices of UNESCO, as a result of which 24 major monuments were moved to safer places or transferred to countries that helped with the work (Temple of Debod in Madrid and Temple of Dendur in New York).
The grand opening and commissioning of the Aswan hydropower complex took place on January 15, 1971 with the participation of the President of the OAR, Anwar Sadat, who cut the ribbon in the blue arch on the crest of the dam, and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. V. Podgorny.
The Aswan Dam solved all the tasks assigned to it: to protect the Egyptians living in the valley from floods and dry seasons, by regulating the water level for many years. Irrigated lands have increased by 30% - 800,000 hectares, old lands now give not one crop, but three. This became possible due to the fact that earlier, when the land was flooded, the inhabitants planted crops there, when the water left the Nile River they harvested, now the water has become constant and you can plant it all the time, without waiting for the river to overflow again. But at the same time, people have lost natural fertilizer - silt brought with the flood of the river, now they use imported fertilizers. In addition, the dam has become the largest source of electricity, giving 2.1 million kW. Many villages had never had light in their houses before. During the construction period, thousands of Egyptians received a construction education, now many of them have become leaders in government agencies and directors of enterprises.
Demonstration in Aswan in connection with the launch of one of the units of the Aswan High Dam. 1968
Water from the Aswan Reservoir irrigates fields reclaimed from the desert
The main characteristics of the hydroelectric complex
The Aswan Upper Dam is 3600m long, 980m wide at the base, 40m wide at the crest and 111m high, it is composed of 43 million m³ of earth materials, that is, it is a gravity earth dam. The maximum water flow through all culverts of the dam is 16,000 m³/s.
The Toshka Canal connects the reservoir with Lake Toshka. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, has a length of 550 km and a maximum width of 35 km; its surface area is 5250 km², and the total volume is 132 km³.
Lake Nasser is the world's largest reservoir, stretching for five hundred kilometers, the depth of which in some places reaches one hundred and eighty meters. Due to its gigantic size, the lake looks more like an inland sea, all the more interesting because it is an inland sea of Africa.
The capacity of twelve generators (each 175 MW) is 2.1 GW of electricity. When by 1967 the generation of hydroelectric power stations reached the design level, it provided about half of all the energy generated in Egypt.
After the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex, the negative consequences of the floods of 1964 and 1973, as well as the droughts of 1972-1973 and 1983-1984, were prevented. A significant number of fish farms have formed around Lake Nasser.
Ecological problems
In addition to the benefits, however, the mining of the Nile has caused a host of environmental problems. Vast areas of lower Nubia were flooded, displacing more than 90,000 people. Lake Nasser flooded valuable archaeological sites. The fertile silt, which was annually washed into the Nile floodplains during floods, now lingers above the dam. Now the silt is gradually raising the level of Lake Nasser. In addition, there have been changes in the ecosystem of the Mediterranean - the fish catch on the coast has decreased, as nutrients have ceased to flow from the Nile.
There is some erosion of farmland down the river. Erosion of the coastline, due to a lack of new flood sediments, will eventually cause the loss of the fisheries in the lakes, which are currently Egypt's largest source of fish. The lowering of the Nile Delta will lead to an influx of sea water into its northern part, where there are now rice plantations. The delta itself, no longer fertilized by the Nile silt, has lost its former fertility. The red brick industry, which uses delta clay, has also been affected. In the eastern Mediterranean, there is significant erosion of the coastlines due to the lack of sand, which was previously brought by the Nile.
The need to use artificial fertilizers supplied by international corporations is also debatable because, unlike river silt, they cause chemical pollution. Insufficient irrigation control has resulted in some agricultural land being destroyed by flooding and increased salinity. This problem is exacerbated by the weakened flow of the river, due to which salt water invades further into the delta.
Mediterranean fisheries were also affected by the construction of the dam, as the marine ecosystem was heavily dependent on the rich flow of phosphates and silicates from the Nile. Mediterranean catches have dropped by almost half since the dam was built. Cases of schistosomiasis have become more frequent, as a large amount of algae in Lake Nasser contributes to the reproduction of snails - carriers of this disease.
Because of the Aswan Dam, the salinity of the Mediterranean Sea has increased, the salty stream from the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic Ocean can be traced for thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic.
In the late 1990s, Lake Nasser began to expand to the west and flood the Toshka lowland. To prevent this phenomenon, the Toshka Canal was built, allowing part of the Nile waters to be diverted to the western regions of the country.
Aswan dam -view from space
Aswan dam -view from space
View to Aswan dam
General form Aswan hydrotechnical complex
Aswan Lower Dam
Aswan Upper Dam
Lake Nasser - photos from space
Inscriptions inside the obelisk in Russian and Arabic:
Over the long years of joint work, the Arab-Soviet friendship was forged and tempered, not inferior in its strength to the Aswan dam itself. Gamal Abdel Nasser.
