The Nubian Preservation Campaign

The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was launched in 1960 by UNESCO. The Campaign was launched as the Aswan Dam could not hold the water of the Nile floods and thus a second Aswan Higher Dam was built for Egypt to meet demands for water, energy, and land, and to safeguard their environment against droughts and floods. Due to this construction, many historical monuments were under threat, so UNESCO and partners worked together on 40 archaeological projects, saving 22 monuments. The celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Campaign took place in the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in 2020, which, along with the Nubia Museum at Aswan, exhibits artifacts from excavations.

           There was a collaboration with a Yugoslavian team in their National Committee for the Realisation of the Ancient Nubian Monuments Preservation between 1963 and 1964, which was born from good relationships following World War II; the team worked on four locations.

           The Campaign was not without controversy; many institutions from UNESCO member states participated in the Nubia Campaign as they wanted half of the finds for their own museums. Today, many artifacts are dispersed worldwide, which poses issues for Nubian legacy and artifact context.