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Nubian Museum

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Adelaide
Adelaide
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4 out of 5
Avg. Member Rating
3
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2
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Editor Pick

Nubian Museum

Nubian Museum

If only all museums could be like the Nubian Museum. It is a microcosm of Aswan itself - neat, approachable, and displaying itself to best effect. It is also an indispensible guide to understanding Aswan and the relationship between Egypt and its southern neighbour Nubia.

First impressions are favourable. It is sited on a rise at the southern tip of town just past the Old Cataract Hotel (E£20 in a taxi, or a thirty-minute walk from the heart of town - I particularly recommend the stroll back in the cool of dusk as the shadows lengthen across the Nile). Opened in 1999 the Museum is a stunning-looking low pink granite building, fusing the most up-to-date techniques with traditional Nubian architecture, such as a strong fortress-like appearance and narrow windows (for defence and coolness). Within the exhibits are well-labelled in English, and much better laid out than Cairo's Egyptian Museum, clearly taking you on a chronological journey through the history of the Nubian peoples, ancient Egypt's southern neighbours who lived beyond the Nile cataracts. Those exhibits are so pristine and demonstrative I half-suspected they had been knocked up by a craftsman in the bazaar!

As outlined here the relationship between Egypt and Nubia reminded me of that between medieval England and Scotland. A dialogue based originally on mutually-beneficial trade, led to the weaker partner becoming subservient to the mightier. Pharaonic Egypt utilised its organisational and military might to gain predominance, hungry for Nubia's gold and control of the trade routes into Africa. Yet this predominance waxed and waned. When Egypt was strong (such as under Ramses II) Pharaonic rule over Nubia was absolute; when Egypt was weak the Nubians could raid north and - to continue the British analogy - pillage York. Indeed, Nubian invaders conquered Thebes in the eighth-century BC. The resulting Kushite dynasty reigned as pharoahs for almost a century. Most of the time however saw Egypt laying claim to Nubia in theory, while in reality controlling little more than their forts along the Nile Valley, similar to the English king's 'rule' in Scotland in the 14th century.

Descending into the main gallery you are presented with a route that takes you through the glories of Nubia. These range from the flint arrowheads of prehistory, through egg-shell porcelain, to an example of a round grave. Egyptian interest starts with a headless statue of Cheops (the pyramids were built with Aswan granite), a large smooth scarab statue, a monumental eight-metre tall Ramses II, and sample belongings of the militarily-powerful governors who were based in Aswan and held the territory in the pharoah's name. That the two peoples shared the same gods is demonstrated by the gold-coated mummies on display upstairs. Further on we get horse bardings and the icons of Christian Nubia, then the story of the area's Islamisation. Finally the visitor is presented with dioramas of traditional Nubian village life. These communities could be found scattered along the Nile valley south of Aswan until the building of the dams submerged their homeland, displacing an estimated 800,000-strong people, forcing them to relocate north of Aswan, or south of Wadi Haifa in the Sudan. The story of the relocation of the Nubian people is not really told however; instead displays focus on UNESCO's work to relocate the cultural sites of Nubia's heritage, most notably with a model showing the former and present sites of Abu Simbel in relation to each other, below and above the waterline respectively. Other temples were relocated to higher ground, such as Philae and Kalabsha; still others were donated to the nations who assisted in the mammoth undertaking of deconstructing and then reconstructing these primordial edifices, such as Spain, Germany and Sweden.

Quite frankly, I thought that E£40 (less than £4GB) for such a confident and impressive introduction to several millenia of history was a very good deal. As with many museums I visted in Egypt it served to make the flagship Egyptian Museum in Cairo look dingy and disorganised. Moreover it was sparsely occupied at the time of my visit, enabling me to actually scrutinise the exhibits and read their blurbs, rather than craning my neck over the crowds and moving on. Be aware that the museum does close between three and four in the afternoon. My recommendation would be to visit as soon as it reopens; that way upon leaving you get a lovely walk down the Corniche as the sun sets - as long as you can ignore the persistent caleche touts. I would also urge you to make this your first stop in Aswan. It will really allow you to understand the background behind the construction of Abu Simbel, and the Nubian bands you will assuredly see and hear.

From journal Frontier of the Pharoahs

Nubia Museum

  • November 22, 2005
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Nosferatu from Newark, California

I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed my time at this museum. It was built by UNESCO and opened fairly recently, in 1997. This museum tells the story of the land of Nubia in southern Egypt and northern Sudan over the past several thousand years. With over 2,000 items exhibited in either excellent display cases or models of Nubian environments, this museum does a much better job of showing the history of Egypt than the National Museum in Cairo.

Usually I find myself glancing over a number of descriptions and information cards at museums, but I found that I read virtually everything in the 3+ hours I spent here. In fact, I still wanted to explore the grounds the museum sat on and had to almost run through it before the gates closed. Along with my wife and friend, we went to this museum during the evening hours. I would recommend going through the grounds first before entering the museum. We certainly did not anticipate to be in it for so long.

From journal The Sands of Time

Editor Pick

The Nubian Museum

  • November 21, 2000
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Adelaide from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This is a very spacious museum, with panels in Arabic and English telling the history of these people. There was so much information, but organized in a way that it goes back and forth in time, that we got a bit confused in the end. I was surprised by the variety of granite colors shown in the many statues and by the delicate work of some ancient items displayed there.

There were also displays about Aswan Dam and the lost archeological sites. Among the temples that have been saved from Lake Nasser waters are those of Debod and Dendur, now in Madrid and New York, respectively, and a third one whose name I forgot. Some like Abu Simbel and Philae were relocated, but many are underwater, probably lost forever.

We spent almost 3 hours there. There was still a bit to see, especially regarding the more recent history of the Nubians, but we were satisfied with what we had been able to see.

Nubia means the "Land of Gold". Once the ancient kingdom of Kush, Nubia stretches from Aswan down to Khartoum in Sudan. Once mercenaries or traders, Nubians still have distinct traditions, architecture and languages. With the construction of the Aswan Dam, when their fertile lands close to the Nile were lost to the lake, many Nubians were relocated elsewhere.

From journal Aswan, past and present

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