The construction of the Aswan High Dam caused the flooding of Nubia. In a swell of perhaps
misguided sentiment toward protecting the relics of ancient societies, a huge effort was
made to save ancient relics in the area.  Unfortunately, there was not as much effort to
save the current civilization that resided in the area.  The people who had lived along the
river for centuries were uprooted. Some were transported to government villages near Aswan,
while others were forced to seek refuge where they could.


While archeologists were removing the ancient artifacts, sociologists attempted to document
the Nubian lifestyle.  Unfortunately, many of the research teams were financed by
organizations with conflicting goals, and so the results were both incomplete and biased.
The government, while attempting to relocate the Nubians, failed to appreciate the richness
of the culture they were uprooting.  The houses the people were moved into were plain track
homes, built without the aesthetic influence of the Nile's plush beauty.  In return for
surrendering their beautifully decorated homes and family plots, they were given plots of
reclaimed desert.  They no longer had the Nile, which had played an integral part of all
their religious and social ceremonies.  Even today, the Nubians still lament the loss of
their homeland.


"We had to leave our dead, our memories and everything we had ever known -- the trees, the
Nile, the houses, and the places where we used to play. "When we arrived at the new village
we missed everything, even the smell of our old land. There was no cultivated land, no
shops, no transportation, no vegetables, we had to get everything from outside.


Memories of the "good old days" are obviously a bit fuzzy, in fact, prior to the flooding,
many young people had to leave their villages to seek work in the city.  The Nubians were
held in high regard by "city dwellers" for their honesty and often found work as
house-servants.  Years of living in their new city homes have had a negative affect on
today's young Nubians. Many of them have never seen their homeland, they no longer speak
their native language, instead they speak Arabic. This trend has caused an up-swelling of
national pride in many older Nubians.  They are struggling to retain their old traditions
and language. Those who do stay, have formed societies to help preserve their heritage.
Other families are fed up with the crime in the big cities and are returning to the banks of
Lake Nasser.  The government is even encouraging this return migration by offering land
grants to anyone willing to set up farms along the lake.  But that is still a poor
substitute for the heritage that lies buried beneath thousands of gallons of water.



Source:
The Middle East, July-August 1994 n236 p35(3)