Christiane Desroches Noblecourt is a French Egyptologist. She is the author of many books on Egyptian art and history and is also known for her role in the preservation of the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... Image:Egypt nefertiti. ... Hathor The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history, as a unified state, of any country in the world. ... For the Star Wars planet, see Nubia (Star Wars). ... The word temple has different meanings in the fields of architecture, religion, geography, anatomy, and education. ... The hydroelectric power station of Aswan Dam Aswan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. ...

Background

She was born Christiane Desroches in 1913, in Paris. In 1922 she was fascinated by Howard Carter’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamon, and encouraged by Father Etienne Drioton, she joined the Egyptian Antiquities department at the Louvre. She was the first woman to be a fellow of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology (IFAO), and was also the first woman to lead an archaeological dig, in 1938. Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Plate LXXA shows detail on a ceremonial walking staff found buried with Tutankhamun; it depicts the two foes, or the Northern and Southern enemies of Egypt. ... Tutankhamun (alternate transcription Tutankhamen), named Tutankhaten early in his life, was Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1334 BC/1333 BC - 1323 BC), during the period known as the New Kingdom. ... This article is about the museum: for building history, see Palais du Louvre. ... Year 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

During World War II she joined the Resistance, and hid the Louvre’s Egyptian treasures in free areas of France. Combatants Allied Powers: United Kingdom France Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Axis Powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Charles de Gaulle Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33... The French Resistance is the name used for resistance movements during World War II which fought the German occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy regime, and was a vital and some say decisive factor in the defeat of Hitler and the Nazi revolution. ...

Aswan Dam project

The construction of the new Aswan High Dam led to Noblecourt’s greatest accomplishment: the preservation of ancient Nubian temples from flooding caused by the dam. The first dam, completed in 1902 with a capacity of a billion cubic meters, had been deemed insufficient and raised in 1912, and again in 1934. The dam’s capacity still couldn’t meet the needs of Egypt’s ever-growing population, and in 1954 the government of Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to build a new dam with a capacity of 157 billion cubic meters, 500 kilometers long, which would extend into Sudan. It has been described as a project worthy of the pharaohs. 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nasser redirects here. ... This article refers to the historical Pharaoh. ...

The monuments of ancient Nubia would have been flooded and lost forever if the project had gone ahead as planned, among them the temples of Abu Simbel. In the words of writer Pierre Loti, who visited the area shortly after the first dam was completed: Model showing the relative positions of the Abu Simbel temples before and after relocation Categories: Ancient Egypt stubs | Wonders of the World ... Louis Marie Julien Viaud (January 14, 1850 - June 10, 1923) was a French sailor and writer, who used the pseudonym Pierre Loti. ...

“The greater part of the ancient temples of Nubia will be underwater. . .but the cotton fields will be so productive!”

UNESCO immediately asked Noblecourt, who was then curator of Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre, to create an inventory of all the threatened historical sites. It then undertook the colossal task of finding the funding necessary to save them.^[1] UNESCO logo UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...

Campaign to save the temples

On March 8, 1960, Noblecourt, along with Sarwat Okasha, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, made a formal appeal for international support. Not only would more than fourteen temples have to be moved, but urgent excavations would need to take place at sites that would soon be under several dozen meters of water. March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in leap years). ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...

Andre Malraux, then the French Minister of Cultural Affairs, added his voice to the appeal: Andr Malraux, French author, adventurer and statesman Andr Malraux (November 3, 1901 - November 23, 1976) was a French author, adventurer and statesman. ...

“The power that created the colossal monuments threatened today. . . speaks to us in a voice as exalted as that of the architects of Chartres, as that of Rembrandt. . .Your appeal is historic, not because it proposes to save the temples of Nubia, but because through it the first global civilization publicly claims the world’s art as its indivisible heritage. . .There is only one action over which the indifference of stars and the eternal murmuring of rivers have no sway - it is the act by which man snatches something from death.”

Fifty countries, in the middle of the Cold War, contributed funds to save the monuments now considered part of the heritage of all humanity. Philae, Kalabsha, Wadi al-Sabua, Dakka, Derr and other sites were moved, with the temples of Abu Simbel receiving the most media attention. The temple of Amada was a difficult case, because of its small, beautifully painted reliefs. Chopping it into blocks, as was being done with the other temples, was not an option; the paintings would not have survived. Seeing that all seemed resigned to see the temple flooded by the silty waters of Lake Nasser, Noblecourt announced that France would save it. She asked two architects to propose a method for moving the temple in one piece. Their idea was to put the temple on rails and transport it hydraulically to a site a few kilometers away that was more than 60 meters higher. The Cold War was the period of conflict, tension and competition between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies from the mid 1940s until the early 1990s. ... Philae (or Pilak or Paaleq [Egyptian: remote place or the end or the angle island]; [Arabic: Anas el Wagud]) is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. ... View of Lake Nasser from Abu Simbel Map showing the location of Lake Nasser Lake Nasser (Arabic: Buhayrat Nasir) is a vast artificial lake in southern Egypt and northern Sudan. ... An architect is a person licensed in the art of planning, designing and overseeing the construction of buildings, or more generally, the designer of a scheme or plan. ...

More funds were needed for this ambitious project. To this end Noblecourt requested an interview with Charles de Gaulle, who had no idea of the commitment she had made in the name of her country. Reportedly on learning of it, he demanded, “Madame, how dare you say that France will save the temple, without authorization from my government?” Noblecourt replied, “General, how dare you make an appeal on the radio without authorization from Petain?” De Gaulle agreed to honour Noblecourt's promise. Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle ( ) (22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970), in France commonly referred to as Général de Gaulle, was a French military leader and statesman. ...

Ultimately the rescue project, including the transportation and reconstruction of the temples on their new sites, took twenty years.

Aftermath

The preservation of the Nubian monuments was to have unexpected consequences. The first was an improvement in Franco-Egyptian relations, which had been poor since the Suez Canal crisis of 1956. This in turn led to the organization of a Tutankhamon exhibition at the Louvre in 1967, which attracted a record number of visitors, followed by the exhibitions of Ramses II in 1976, and Amenophis III in 1993. In recognition of France’s contributions to the preservation of the Nubian temples, the government of Anwar Sadat donated to the Louvre the bust of Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaton. Ships moored at El Ballah during transit Egypt: Site of Suez Canal (top). ... Combatants Israel United Kingdom France Egypt Commanders Moshe Dayan Charles Keightley Pierre Barjot Gamal Abdel Nasser Strength 175,000 Israeli 45,000 British 34,000 French 300,000 Casualties 197 Israeli KIA 56 British KIA 91 British WIA 10 French KIA 43 French WIA 650 KIA 2,900 WIA 2... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Usermaatre-setepenre The Justice of Re is Powerful, Chosen of Re Nomen Ramesses (meryamun) Born of Re, (Beloved of Amun) Horus name Kanakht Merymaa Nebty name Mekkemetwafkhasut Golden Horus Userrenput-aanehktu Consort(s) Isetnofret, Nefertari Maathorneferure Issues Bintanath, Khaemweset, Merneptah, Amun-her-khepsef Meritamen Father Seti I Mother Queen Tuya... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Amenhotep III, Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin The northern Colossus of Memnon Amenhotep III (called Nibmu(`w)areya in the Amarna letters) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the XVIIIth dynasty. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Bust of Pharaoh Akhenaten. ...

Awards

In 1975 Noblecourt received the prestigious gold medal of the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS). 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) is the largest and most prominent public research organization in France. ...

See also

• Aswan Dam
• List of Egyptologists

The hydroelectric power station of Aswan Dam Aswan is a city on the first cataract of the Nile in Egypt. ... An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ...

Publications

• With K.Michalowski, Tell-Edfou 1939. Fouilles franco-polonaises, III, IFAO, Le Caire, 1950
• L'art égyptien, éd. PUF, 1962
• Toutânkhamon, vie et mort d'un pharaon, 1963
• Peintures des tombeaux et des temples égyptiens, Le Grand art en livre de poche, Flammarion, Paris, 1962
• Vie et mort d'un pharaon, Toutankhamon, Hachette, Paris, 1963 et réédition 1976
• Toutankhamon et son temps, Petit Palais, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1967
• With C.Kuentz, Le petit temple d'Abou Simbel, 2 vol., Le Caire, 1968
• With C.Aldred, J-P.Lauer, J.Leclant et J.Vercoutter, Le temps des pyramides, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1978
• With C.Aldred, P.Barguet, J.Leclant et H.W.Müller, L'empire des conquérants, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1979
• With C.Aldred, F.Daumas, et J.Leclant, L'Égypte du crépuscule, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1980
• With J.Vercoutter, Un siècle de fouilles françaises en Égypte 1880-1980, IFAO, Le Caire, 1981
• With L.Balout et C.Roubet, La momie de Ramsès II, Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, 1985
• Le grand Pharaon Ramsès II et son Temps, Palais de la Civilisation Montréal, Montréal, 1985
• Les zélateurs de Mandoulis et les maîtres de Ballana et de Qustul, Mélanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, IFAO, Le Caire, 1985
• La femme au temps des pharaons, éd. Stock, 1986 et 2001
• La grande Nubiade ou le parcours d'une égyptologue, éd. Stock, 1992, (ISBN 2-7242-7128-9)
• A propos de la nouvelle tombe de la Vallée des Rois, n°314, pp.4-6, Archéologia, Paris, 1995;
• Amours et fureurs de la lointaine, éd. Stock, 1995
• Ramsès II, la véritable histoire, éd. Pygmalion, 1997, (ISBN 2-7441-0425-6)
• Toutânkhamon, éd. Pygmalion, 1999
• Le secret des temples de la Nubie, éd. Stock, 1999
• La reine mystérieuse, éd. Pygmalion, 2002, (ISBN 2-7441-5816-6)
• Sous le regard des dieux, éd. Albin Michel, 2003
• Symboles de l'Égypte, éd. Desclée de Brouwer, 2004
• Le fabuleux héritage de l'Égypte, Télémaque, 2004
• Le secret des découvertes, Télémaque, 2006

References

• This article was initially translated from this Wikipedia article « fr:Christiane Desroches Noblecourt » , specifically from this version.