Christiane Desroches Noblecourt
Encyclopedia
Christiane Desroches Noblecourt (17 November 1913 – 23 June 2011) was a French
Egyptologist. She was the author
of many books on Egyptian art
and history
and was also known for her role in the preservation of the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam
.
. In 1922 she was fascinated by Howard Carter
’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamon, and encouraged by Father Étienne Drioton
, she joined the Egyptian Antiquities department at the Louvre
. She was the first woman to be a fellow of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology
(IFAO), and was also the first woman to lead an archaeological dig, in 1938.
During World War II
she joined the Resistance
, and hid the Louvre’s Egyptian treasures in free areas of France.
She died on June 23, 2011 at 97.
decided to build a new dam with a capacity of 157 billion cubic meters, 500 kilometers long, which would extend into Sudan
. It has been described as a project worthy of the pharaohs.
The monuments of ancient Nubia would have been flooded and lost forever if the project had gone ahead as planned, among them the temples of Abu Simbel. In the words of writer Pierre Loti
, who visited the area shortly after the first dam was completed:
immediately asked Noblecourt, who was then curator of Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre, to create an inventory of all the threatened historical sites. It then undertook the colossal task of finding the funding necessary to save them.
André Malraux
, then the French Minister of Cultural Affairs, added his voice to the appeal:
Fifty countries, in the middle of the Cold War
, contributed funds to save the monuments now considered part of the heritage of all humanity. Philae
, Kalabsha, Wadi al-Sabua, Dakka, Derr and other sites were moved, with the temples of Abu Simbel receiving the most media attention. The temple of Amada was a difficult case, because of its small, beautifully painted reliefs. Chopping it into blocks, as was being done with the other temples, was not an option; the paintings would not have survived. Seeing that all seemed resigned to see the temple flooded by the silty waters of Lake Nasser
, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt announced that France would save it. She asked two architects to propose a method for moving the temple in one piece. Their idea was to put the temple on rails and transport it hydraulically to a site a few kilometers away that was more than 60 meters higher.
More funds were needed for this ambitious project. To this end Christiane Desroches Noblecourt requested an interview with Charles de Gaulle
, who had no idea of the commitment she had made in the name of her country. Reportedly on learning of it, he demanded, “Madame, how dare you say that France will save the temple, without authorization from my government?” Noblecourt replied, “General, how dare you make an appeal on the radio without authorization from Pétain?” De Gaulle agreed to honour Noblecourt's promise.
Ultimately the rescue project, including the transportation and reconstruction of the temples on their new sites, took twenty years.
crisis
of 1956. This in turn led to the organization of a Tutankhamon exhibition at the Louvre in 1967, which attracted a record number of visitors, followed by the exhibitions of Ramses II in 1976, and Amenophis III in 1993. In recognition of France’s contributions to the preservation of the Nubian temples, the government of Anwar Sadat
donated to the Louvre the bust of Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaton.
(CNRS). In January 2008, she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur
, the highest decoration in France.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Egyptologist. She was the author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
of many books on Egyptian art
Art of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egyptian art is the painting, sculpture, architecture and other arts produced by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 AD. Ancient Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture, and was both highly stylized and symbolic...
and history
History of Egypt
Egyptian history can be roughly divided into the following periods:*Prehistoric Egypt*Ancient Egypt**Early Dynastic Period of Egypt: 31st to 27th centuries BC**Old Kingdom of Egypt: 27th to 22nd centuries BC...
and was also known for her role in the preservation of the Nubian temples from flooding caused by the Aswan Dam
Aswan Dam
The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902...
.
Background
She was born Christiane Desroches on November 17 1913, in ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. In 1922 she was fascinated by Howard Carter
Howard Carter
Howard Carter may refer to:* Howard Carter , English archaeologist who discovered Tutankhamun's tomb* Howard Carter , American basketball player...
’s discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamon, and encouraged by Father Étienne Drioton
Etienne Drioton
Étienne Drioton was a French Egyptologist, archaeologist, and Catholic canon.-Biography:...
, she joined the Egyptian Antiquities department at the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
. She was the first woman to be a fellow of the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology
Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale
.The Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale , also known as the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology in Cairo is a French research institute based in Cairo, Egypt, dedicated to the study of the archaeology, history and languages of the various periods of Egypt's civilisation.The IFAO is...
(IFAO), and was also the first woman to lead an archaeological dig, in 1938.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
she joined the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, and hid the Louvre’s Egyptian treasures in free areas of France.
She died on June 23, 2011 at 97.
Aswan Dam project
The construction of the new Aswan High Dam led to Noblecourt’s greatest accomplishment: the preservation of ancient Nubian temples from flooding caused by the dam. The first dam, completed in 1902 with a capacity of a billion cubic meters, had been deemed insufficient and raised in 1912, and again in 1934. The dam’s capacity still could not meet the needs of Egypt’s ever-growing population, and in 1954 the government of Gamal Abdel NasserGamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
decided to build a new dam with a capacity of 157 billion cubic meters, 500 kilometers long, which would extend into Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. It has been described as a project worthy of the pharaohs.
The monuments of ancient Nubia would have been flooded and lost forever if the project had gone ahead as planned, among them the temples of Abu Simbel. In the words of writer Pierre Loti
Pierre Loti
Pierre Loti was a French novelist and naval officer.-Biography:Loti's education began in his birthplace, Rochefort, Charente-Maritime. At the age of seventeen he entered the naval school in Brest and studied at Le Borda. He gradually rose in his profession, attaining the rank of captain in 1906...
, who visited the area shortly after the first dam was completed:
“The greater part of the ancient temples of Nubia will be underwater. . .but the cotton fields will be so productive!”UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
immediately asked Noblecourt, who was then curator of Egyptian antiquities at the Louvre, to create an inventory of all the threatened historical sites. It then undertook the colossal task of finding the funding necessary to save them.
Campaign to save the temples
On March 8, 1960, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, along with Sarwat Okasha, the Egyptian Minister of Culture, made a formal appeal for international support. Not only would more than fourteen temples have to be moved, but urgent excavations would need to take place at sites that would soon be under several dozen meters of water.André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, then the French Minister of Cultural Affairs, added his voice to the appeal:
“The power that created the colossal monuments threatened today. . . speaks to us in a voice as exalted as that of the architects of Chartres, as that of Rembrandt. . .Your appeal is historic, not because it proposes to save the temples of Nubia, but because through it the first global civilization publicly claims the world’s art as its indivisible heritage. . .There is only one action over which the indifference of stars and the eternal murmuring of rivers have no sway - it is the act by which man snatches something from death.”
Fifty countries, in the middle of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, contributed funds to save the monuments now considered part of the heritage of all humanity. Philae
Philae
Philae is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt...
, Kalabsha, Wadi al-Sabua, Dakka, Derr and other sites were moved, with the temples of Abu Simbel receiving the most media attention. The temple of Amada was a difficult case, because of its small, beautifully painted reliefs. Chopping it into blocks, as was being done with the other temples, was not an option; the paintings would not have survived. Seeing that all seemed resigned to see the temple flooded by the silty waters of Lake Nasser
Lake Nasser
Lake Nasser is a vast reservoir in southern Egypt, and northern Sudan, and is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Strictly, "Lake Nasser" refers only to the much larger portion of the lake that is in Egyptian territory , with the Sudanese preferring to call their smaller body of water...
, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt announced that France would save it. She asked two architects to propose a method for moving the temple in one piece. Their idea was to put the temple on rails and transport it hydraulically to a site a few kilometers away that was more than 60 meters higher.
More funds were needed for this ambitious project. To this end Christiane Desroches Noblecourt requested an interview with Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, who had no idea of the commitment she had made in the name of her country. Reportedly on learning of it, he demanded, “Madame, how dare you say that France will save the temple, without authorization from my government?” Noblecourt replied, “General, how dare you make an appeal on the radio without authorization from Pétain?” De Gaulle agreed to honour Noblecourt's promise.
Ultimately the rescue project, including the transportation and reconstruction of the temples on their new sites, took twenty years.
Aftermath
The preservation of the Nubian monuments was to have unexpected consequences. The first was an improvement in Franco-Egyptian relations, which had been poor since the Suez CanalSuez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
crisis
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...
of 1956. This in turn led to the organization of a Tutankhamon exhibition at the Louvre in 1967, which attracted a record number of visitors, followed by the exhibitions of Ramses II in 1976, and Amenophis III in 1993. In recognition of France’s contributions to the preservation of the Nubian temples, the government of Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
donated to the Louvre the bust of Amenhotep IV, better known as Akhenaton.
Awards
In 1975 Christiane Desroches Noblecourt received the prestigious gold medal of the French National Center for Scientific ResearchCentre national de la recherche scientifique
The National Center of Scientific Research is the largest governmental research organization in France and the largest fundamental science agency in Europe....
(CNRS). In January 2008, she was awarded the Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, the highest decoration in France.
- Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
- Officer of the Ordre national du MériteOrdre National du MériteThe Ordre national du Mérite is an Order of State awarded by the President of the French Republic. It was founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle...
- Médaille de la RésistanceMédaille de la RésistanceThe French Médaille de la Résistance was awarded by General Charles de Gaulle "to recognise the remarkable acts of faith and of courage that, in France, in the empire and abroad, have contributed to the resistance of the French people against the enemy and against its accomplices since June 18,...
- Commander of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques
- Commander of Ordre des Arts et des LettresOrdre des Arts et des LettresThe Ordre des Arts et des Lettres is an Order of France, established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture, and confirmed as part of the Ordre national du Mérite by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963...
- Grand Officer of the Order of the Liberation of Egypt
- Gold Medal of the French National Centre for Scientific ResearchCNRS Gold medalThe highest scientific research award in France, which is presented annually by the French National Centre for Scientific Research , is the CNRS Gold medal, first awarded in 1954. Past recipients of the Gold medal are* 2011 Jules A...
(CNRS) (1975) - Great Silver Medal of UNESCOUNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
- Vermeil Medal of the City of Paris
- Great Gold Medal of the Society for Encouraging Progress
- Silver Medal of the Academy of Architecture
Publications
- With K.Michalowski, Tell-Edfou 1939. Fouilles franco-polonaises, III, IFAO, Le Caire, 1950
- L'art égyptien, éd. PUF, 1962
- Toutânkhamon, vie et mort d'un pharaon, 1963
- Peintures des tombeaux et des temples égyptiens, Le Grand art en livre de poche, Flammarion, Paris, 1962
- Vie et mort d'un pharaon, Toutankhamon, Hachette, Paris, 1963 et réédition 1976
- Toutankhamon et son temps, Petit Palais, Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1967
- With C.Kuentz, Le petit temple d'Abou Simbel, 2 vol., Le Caire, 1968
- With C.Aldred, J-P.Lauer, J.Leclant et J.Vercoutter, Le temps des pyramides, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1978
- With C.Aldred, P.Barguet, J.Leclant et H.W.Müller, L'empire des conquérants, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1979
- With C.Aldred, F.Daumas, et J.Leclant, L'Égypte du crépuscule, L'univers des formes, Gallimard, Paris, 1980
- With J.Vercoutter, Un siècle de fouilles françaises en Égypte 1880-1980, IFAO, Le Caire, 1981
- With L.Balout et C.Roubet, La momie de Ramsès II, Museum national d'histoire naturelle, Paris, 1985
- Le grand Pharaon Ramsès II et son Temps, Palais de la Civilisation Montréal, Montréal, 1985
- Les zélateurs de Mandoulis et les maîtres de Ballana et de Qustul, Mélanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar, IFAO, Le Caire, 1985
- La femme au temps des pharaons, éd. Stock, 1986 et 2001
- La grande Nubiade ou le parcours d'une égyptologue, éd. Stock, 1992, (ISBN 2-7242-7128-9)
- A propos de la nouvelle tombe de la Vallée des Rois, n°314, pp.4-6, Archéologia, Paris, 1995;
- Amours et fureurs de la lointaine, éd. Stock, 1995
- Ramsès II, la véritable histoire, éd. Pygmalion, 1997, (ISBN 2-7441-0425-6)
- Toutânkhamon, éd. Pygmalion, 1999
- Le secret des temples de la Nubie, éd. Stock, 1999
- La reine mystérieuse, éd. Pygmalion, 2002, (ISBN 2-7441-5816-6)
- Sous le regard des dieux, éd. Albin Michel, 2003
- Symboles de l'Égypte, éd. Desclée de Brouwer, 2004
- Le fabuleux héritage de l'Égypte, Télémaque, 2004
- Le secret des découvertes, Télémaque, 2006