Aswan Dam - Taming the Nile Trivia Quiz

Answer: 11th century

Around 1010 CE, the Fatimid Caliph summoned the Arab engineer Ibn al-Haytham (aka Alhazen) to Egypt to design and build a dam near Aswan, having heard of his theory that he could regulate the flow of the Nile and eliminate the periodic droughts and floods which did so much damage.

Unfortunately, once he properly surveyed the area Alhazen concluded that this vast project was impracticable. Legend has it that he then feigned insanity and was placed under house arrest to escape retribution at the caliph's hands.

During these ten years (before the caliph's death), he wrote a scientific book on optics. He espoused the scientific method of experimentation and confirmation, some five centuries before the Renaissance scientists. The man was a genius, far ahead of his time. It is possible that he might have been capable of building the dam, had the resources of Pharaonic times been available to him.

Answer: Aswan Low Dam

For 70 years (1882-1952) Egypt was a British protectorate with a puppet monarchy. In 1898, the British built a dam across the Nile about 6 km upstream of the present site of Aswan High Dam.

The original Aswan Dam was useful in regulating flows; for the first time it was possible to irrigate in times of drought and to reduce flooding. It was not, however, large enough to prevent overflow in particularly wet seasons, and it was only a few decades before a more reliable construction was investigated.

Answer: The revolution and overthrow of the monarchy

Although Egypt had indeed always been subject to sometimes cataclysmic flooding and droughts, they were not the trigger for building the dam. Prior to the 1952 Revolution, King Farouk dismissed ideas of a dam, favouring an alternative plan (never implemented) to store water in Ethiopia and Sudan.

In 1952, with the Egyptian Revolution, Farouk was ousted by the Free Officers Movement, with a short-serving president, soon replaced.

Shortly after gaining power (formalised in 1956), the new President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, accepted a plan by Adrian Daninos to build a much larger capacity dam than the existing one at Aswan.

Answer: By seizing control of the Suez Canal

There were several offers of loans and material help from Britain, the USA and the USSR while Nasser was seeking finance for the dam. However, his purchase of arms from the USSR prompted both Britain and the USA to withdraw their offers, leaving the USSR as the only major partner.

In 1956, President Nasser nationalised the Suez Canal and closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, prompting "the Suez Crisis". Britain, France, and Israel promptly invaded Egypt. However they were soon forced to withdraw by the United Nations.

With Russian loans secured and revenue rolling in from the Suez Canal, Nasser was now free to commence work on the dam.

Answer: The Temples at Abu Simbel

The twin temples of Abu Simbel, one dedicated to Ramesses II, the other to his chief consort, Queen Nefertari, would have been submerged in the waters of Lake Nasser.

Thought by many to be the most impressive and the most beautiful of the ancient Egyptian monuments, these temples were finished in about 1244 BC, and featured colossal statues guarding the entrances. It is believed to be the first time a pharaoh and his wife were portrayed as being of the same height. The convention had been in statuary that the pharaoh (a god) towered over all mortals.

Answer: About four years, from 1964 to 1968

Relocation of the two temples with the colossal statues guarding the entrances took about four years. There was an alternative solution proposed, in which a large clear freshwater lake would be created around the temples, with underwater viewing walkways. Although feasible, this option was discarded.
In 1964, work began slicing up the stone structures, carrying them up the cliffs above their original location, and reassembling them several hundred metres away.

Salvage of parts of the complex was still going on underwater as the lake was filling.

Answer: Lake Nasser

Lake Nasser was constructed as one of the largest man-made reservoirs in the world. It covers a surface area of 5,250 sq kms and has a storage capacity of 132 cubic kms.

Ethiopia commenced construction of its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in 2011, which threatened, when completed, to severely limit Nile flows further downstream, including flows through Sudan and into Lake Nasser.

Answer: Sudan's Nubian homelands would be flooded

The new lake formed by the dam, Lake Nasser, floods the Nile valley for some distance back from the dam, encroaching into the part of Southern Egypt and Northern Sudan which formed the ancestral lands of the Nubian people

Despite protests from Sudan, Egypt pressed ahead without making provision to prevent or reduce flooding in the lower part of the affected area, and about 50,000 Nubians had to be relocated, mostly to other areas of Egypt. Some stayed to work as share-croppers, but most now work in Egypt's main cities.

Incidentally, there are no countries downstream of Egypt, as the Nile flows to the Mediterranean near Cairo. Creation of a large lake in the desert can only be a positive thing for birdlife.

Answer: Regulating flow, providing electricity

The Aswan High Dam has brought increased prosperity for much of Egypt. It has prevented the inundation of land which formerly destroyed crops, providing predictable irrigation, allowing much more land to be opened up to agriculture.

Once the dam started functioning, it provided a large-scale economical electric power source for the nation. There is no doubt that without the dam (or something very much like it) Egypt would not have made the economic strides it achieved in the latter half of the 20th century.

Answer: It helps spread a disease caused by snails

Despite the fact that the building of the dam has brought great benefits and prosperity to many, there have been a number of negative impacts on the environment.

There is a disease called schistosomiasis, spread by snails throughout the irrigation system. There has been a virtual wipeout of the migratory fish which formerly traversed the Nile system. This has been somewhat compensated for by restocking Lake Nasser with various species of fish.

There has been a significant loss of income in the Eastern Mediterranean, as formerly floods had discharged nutrient-laden silt from the mouth of the Nile; lack of these nutrients is thought to have caused a sharp decline the anchovy populations.

This silt which accompanied the annual floods resulted in much-enriched agricultural land; lack of these nutrients has caused a downturn in production and a great increase in the amount of artificial fertilisers to compensate.