World Heritage Sites in Egypt
Thursday, January 15th, 2009Copyright © EgyptHasItAll.com
After World War Ι the world was concerned with reconstruction, and the need for the preservation of cultural sites and the obligation towards the conservation of nature. This gave birth to the creation of an international movement then called the “Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.”
To stimulate international cooperation and help generate funds to protect “the world’s superb natural and scenic areas and historic sites for the present and the future of the entire world citizenry” a ‘World Heritage Trust’ was put forth in 1965. The Convention was adopted by the UNESCO on 16 November 1972 reinforcing the importance for the need to preserve heritage balance between culture and nature.
The decision to build the Aswan High Dam raised concern for the loss of the treasures of the ancient Egyptian civilization, which would be lost to the flooding in the Nile Valley. On appeal from both Egypt and Sudan in 1959, the UNESCO launched a campaign to help save both Abu Simbel and Philae Temples, as they were dismantled and moved to higher, dry ground to be reassembled. This international campaign raised about US$80 million, half of which was donated by around 50 countries, showing solidarity in helping conserve exceptional cultural sites. Rescue campaigns that followed included Venice and its Lagoon (Italy), the Archaeological Ruins at Moenjodaro (Pakistan), and the restoration of the Borobodur Temple Compounds (Indonesia).
The officially listed World Heritage Site in Egypt are seven, of which 6 are cultural site and one is a natural, which is Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley) and was the latest to be added in 2005. It lies in Wadi El-Rayan Protected Area in the Fayoum Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt. Its desert floor is littered with fossil whale skeletons which have long been extinct.
Of the Cultural properties is Abu Mena in the Mariut Desert in Borg Al-Arab in Alexandria. It is an ancient holy city that includes a church, baptistery, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops. It was built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in A.D. 296.
In Quina there’s the ancient city of Thebes with its Necropolis. It was the capital of Egypt during both the Middle and New Kingdoms, and the city of the god Amun. The property includes the temples and palaces at Karnak in Luxor and the necropolises of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens.
Historic or Islamic Cairo also became a World Heritage Site in 1979. Founded in the 10th century and by the 14th century it reached its golden age becoming the center for Islamic teaching and the Islamic world in general. Surrounded by urban Cairo the property is famous for its mosques, madrasas, hammams and fountains.
The site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Memphis and its Necropolis-The Pyramid fields from Giza to Dahshur, was the capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt, holding some amazing rock tombs, temples and pyramids.
Equally extraordinary are the properties in Aswan, with the colossal temple of Abu Simbel built by Ramses II and the beautifully serene Sanctuary of Isis at the Island of Philae which were threatened to drown by the Aswan Dam in the 60’s and were the first rescue campaign launched by the UNESCO.
The St. Katherine Area was enlisted in 2002, and is considered sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Mount Horeb or better known as Gabal Musa is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. The Orthodox Christian Monastery St. Katherine was built in the 6th century and holds an amazing collection of Christian manuscripts and icons.
Although only seven sites are listed to this day, the tentative list for pending sites is very long, but include Alexandria (ancient remains and the new library), El-Gendi Fortress, built by Salah el-Din in south Sinai, the Protected ecosystems of Ras Mohammed in South Sinai and the Monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun.
About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
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Egypt Tours
It was told that Isis managed to trick the all powerful sun god Ra into telling her his secret name (the name that held all his divine power). By creating a magical serpent that bit Ra. She was called upon to cure him but to do so she had to know his secret name, which he finally divulged giving her power equal to his own and so she became divine and as powerful as Ra himself.
The end to this religion came in 535 A.D. when the Roman emperor Flavius Anicius Justinianus ordered the closure of the temple, forbad the art of reading and writing hieroglyphs and imprisoned its priests. This put an end to the religion that had spread beyond the lands of Egypt and spread all across the Mediterranean.
Isis was the sister-wife of Osiris and the mother of the god Horus. Osiris was a great and just king who was loved by his people and wife, but he was hated by his brother Seth (the god of the underworld). Seth was jealous of his brother so he devised a plan to get rid of him. He secretly obtained Osiris’ measurements and had a magnificent casket of the rarest wood and decorated with ebony, ivory, silver and gold made to fit him exactly. He then held a great feast in honor of Osiris where he offered to give the casket to whoever fit it exactly. With the aid of 72 of his wicked friends they tricked Osiris into trying it for size, but as soon as he lay in it they nailed the lid shut and threw the casket into the Nile.
And when no one was looking she opened the chest and turned into a bird called the kite and flapped her mighty wings. The wind created by her wings gave Osiris the Breath of Life for one day, during which she conceived her son Horus from him. Seth managed to find the casket again and after opening it he rented the body into 14 pieces and scattered them along the shores of the Nile for the crocodiles to eat. Isis seeking the help of her sister Nephthys and Anubus the son of Nephthys, who was said to take the form of a jackal to find all the pieces of Osiris. All the pieces were recovered except for one. She stuck the pieces together and wrapped him in linen making him the first Egyptian mummy. Not able to return in a human form, Osiris was sent to rule the underworld, being the only person to live after death.
Isis then returned to raise her son Horus, who often took the form of a hawk. Horus eventually avenges the death of his father and manages to defeat Seth. Horus was then given the privilege of taking his father’s place and ruling Earth as Osiris had once done.