Have you ever heard of an entire temple being taken apart and then accurately reassembled somewhere else? In this post, you will find the YouTube video exploring a monumental Egyptian artifact preserved through global effort, and a full video transcript (with relevant sources and links).
YouTube Video
YouTube Video Transcript
Here, you will find the complete transcript of the video in the previous section with hyperlinked references/citations.
Intro
Have you ever heard of an entire temple being taken apart and then accurately reassembled somewhere else?
Why would this ever be necessary? How would this feat be accomplished?
Hi! I’m Dr. Smiti Nathan, and I’m an archaeologist. In this video, we’re going to explore an artifact that underwent just that.
Background
This is the Temple of Dendur. This 43-foot-long, 23-foot-wide temple was constructed from Nubian sandstone and was initially constructed around 10 CE by Emperor Augustus. This type of temple was common during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
The temple complex was originally built on a sandstone platform. One would walk through the gate, entering the courtyard. The temple itself contained an entrance hall, called a pronoas. There were also two broad halls: one being an offering hall, and the other a sanctuary.
The interior and exterior of the temple were covered in carved reliefs and hieroglyphs related to the religious cult that took place within it. The goddess Isis of Philae, whose main temple was at the Island of Philae to the north, featured prominently among other deities in the temple.
Although this temple was constructed by the Roman emperor Augustus, the architecture and design of the temple followed native Egyptian traditions, rather than Roman ones. This was a widespread practice done by other Ptolemaic and Roman rulers in an attempt to legitimize their rule in the country using local symbols and imagery. Within the Temple of Dendur, Emperor Augustus is depicted wearing Egyptian clothing, and as an Egyptian pharaoh making offerings to Egyptian deities.
International Effort
When the Temple of Dendur was first built, it was located on the West Bank of the Nile River in Lower Nubia, which is south of modern-day Aswan in Egypt. Today, it is currently located and on view at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
You might be wondering how that happened.
Construction of the Aswan High Dam was built to mitigate the annual flooding of the river and it forever altered the landscape and way of life of those living in this region. Many archaeological sites and modern-day communities within Lower Nubia were flooded with water and are now located under Lake Nasser.
The salvage of this temple represents the cooperation of the international community (including 50 countries), who came together in the early 1960s to study, preserve, and protect ancient Egyptian and Nubian cultural heritage in anticipation of the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
UNESCO’s International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, focusing on the preservation of Nubian and Egyptian cultural heritage, brought together Egyptian and foreign archaeologists. This international appeal bv UNESCO “resulted in the excavation and recording of hundreds of sites, the recovery of thousands of objects, and the salvage and relocation of a number of important temples to higher ground, the most famous of them the temple complexes of Abu Simbel and Philae.”
In appreciation for providing funding and supplies to support this massive effort, Egypt gifted a select number of temples to various contributing countries. The Temple of Dendur and its gateway were gifted to the United States in 1965 to recognize their contribution to the campaign.
Outro
There is a growing focus and accountability on how museums acquire their artifacts. The Temple of Dendur’s story is a bit of a unique one. It highlights the real-life impacts of modern public works projects on people and artifacts. This was definitely a logistically complicated and complex international collaborative effort. It also prompts us to consider the roles that artifacts play in diplomatic gifting and strategy.
This video is part of our Artifact of the Day series, where we take a quick look at one intriguing object from the past. If you’re interested in watching another artifact of the day video, check out the video here.
Credits
Brooke Norton: Series Lead, Co-Producer, Researcher, Scriptwriter
Noor Hanania: Lead Video Editor, Peer Reviewer, Logo Designer
Anya Gruber: Peer Reviewer
Sneh P. Patel: Peer Reviewer
Smiti Nathan: Director, Co-Producer, Support Video Editor, Researcher, Scriptwriter
Patreon Supporters
Thank you to our paid Patreon members for supporting the creation of this video:
Nancy Fulton, James D., Giancarlo Annese, Thomas Martin, Stuart A. Griffin, Tagg, Ann Brookens, Diana Madden, Cole Guinn
If you enjoyed this post, check out my channel and other videos.
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