Egyptian Dreams

Osiris II · Vizier Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 1752

Actually, the dam is causing a lot of problems for the monuments. The level of the ground-waters has risen. The limestone of most monuments absorbs the water; it forms salt crystals in the stone; the crystals cause the painting and engraving to flake off. It is estimated that in 100 years there will be no paintings or engravings on any monuments, unless some concept of preventing the flaking is developed.
The prevention of the flooding, without the silt, causes the farmers to use chemical fertilizers to an alarming degree. The run-off of these pollutants go...into the Nile!
True, controlling the flooding has stopped the valley from being massively flooded. The electricity from the dam has just about supplied every village with power--even in very poor areas, it is not uncommon to see T.V. sets now!
But is it really worth it?

chillie · Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 12:35 pm Post subject:

My feeling is if it isn't sustainable, then maybe no. Obviously, energy from the river is good, but if they are destroying their land (as we are) and river to grow food, on land had been naturally fertilized for thousands and thousands of years (enough to be a world breadbasket!), then this practice can't be kept up indefinitely. Maybe a practical solution would be allowing the river to flood and going for solar energy and a new land/population/agricultural management system... LOL i would turn the whole world green if i could, because this is ridiculous
But i have feeling this isn't as easy to do as it is for me to write, and at this point we humans aren't quite committed to not polluting our life support systems.
So... is there anything they are suggesting to prevent the reaction of limestone and water? What a tragedy it would be to lose it all...

Osiris II · Vizier Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Posts: 1752

I understand that new bases have been put under the columns ar Luxor Temple, and this seems to prevent the water seepage, but, obviously, this is a very extreme practice. I can't really imagine lifting the pylons at Karnak to install new, waterproof bases! But, really, it's the only way. Contact between the stone and the ground must be prevented. Perhaps someone, hopefully, is working on a solution.
And then there is the poor condition of the tombs. The breath of tourists do a lot of damage, plus "improvements" installed years ago, and have sewage lines that leak into many of the tombs! Not to mention the defacing that has occurred--usually when a tomb was first discovered, vandals, out to make a buck, would hack out attractive scenes or faces to sell. The salt flaking happens in tomb paintings, too. Then there is natural damage. The earth will settle or shift, and large cracks will appear in the paintings. Because most are done over a coat of plaster, the cracks cause the plaster to fall off, destroying the painting.
I think there will be a time in the not too distant future when we will no longer have access to the tombs.