Madrid is at almost the geographic center of Spain, and all the distances in the
country are measured from Kilometre Zero in the citys Puerta del Sol. So,
its a bit of a culture shock to realize that the Egyptian-looking building on
top of a hill is, in fact Egyptian. Ive visited Egypt
several times, but, even if you arent into things Egyptian, you cant help
but wonder how an Egyptian temple came to be situated almost in the center of Spain.
The Debod
Temple was built -- or rather,
re-assembled -- near the Royal Palace,
in the Parque de la Montana, the site of a former Army barracks, on top of a
hill called Principe Pio Hill. Surrounding the building is a clear, moat-like
lake and the whole thing stands inside a considerable garden, with palm trees
making the temple seem at home, even against the backdrop of Madrids skyscrapers.
To the west, the hilltop site gives a view
of the vast Casa de Campo recreational area on the other side of the Manzanares River.
Free Entry to the Debod Temple
Entry to the inside on some days is free.
At first, I thought I was going to be disappointed. There was a video,
projected on to one of the ancient walls, but the commentary was in Spanish
only, of which my command doesnt extend to Egyptological matters. And, there
were wall carvings. These, also, I was disappointed in, but then, Ive been to Egypt, where
theres much better to be seen. And, as I found out later, for 60 years, the
temple had been under water for three-quarters of the year.
Upstairs is the good stuff. Models show how
the temple probably looked in its heyday, and how that stretch of the Nile looked before the coming of the dams. Better still,
a series of computers gave a commentary -- in English, if desired -- describing
the history of the temple, how the temples were rescued from the rising waters
and, most importantly, how the Temple
of Debod came to be in Spain.
Many Egyptian artefacts came to Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, often,
without the courtesy of asking the Egyptians. But, this wasnt the case with
the Temple of Debod. As late as 1960, it stood on its
original site, and was freely given to Spain by the Egyptian authorities.
Debod Temple in Egypt
Originally, the Temple
of Debod stood on the right bank of
the River Nile, just above the First Cataract near Aswan, dedicated to the god Amun and the
goddess Isis. In 1898, the British, who then controlled Egypt, decided to dam the Nile at Aswan, the work being
completed in 1902. With typical short-sightedness, they completely disregarded
the fact that some important monuments would be lost beneath the surface of the
resulting lake, including the beautiful
Temple of Isis on Philae Island, and the not-so-well-regarded Temple of Debod
nearby,
However, once a year, during the annual
flood, the sluice gates of the Aswan Dam would be opened, and it was possible,
for a few short weeks, to visit the temples. Nevertheless, being submerged
beneath the lake for most of the time wasnt very good for the temples,
especially Debod, which was already in a ruinous state when it was discovered.
In the late 1950s, a new dam was proposed.
This would be the massive, Russian-built High Dam, and it was quickly realized
that its building would cause many more monuments, including the colossal rock temple of Abu Simbel,
270 kilometres to the south of the dam, to be lost below the surface of the new
Lake Nasser.
Rescuing the Temples
The Director-General of UNESCO appealed for
any help that might be forthcoming from other countries, and over 50 nations
responded. The selected monuments were dismantled, and re-assembled piece by
piece above the rising waters. Even the solid rock forming the mighty Abu Simbel was sawn into blocks and re-assembled around
an artificially-built "mountain."
Some temples were a little less fortunate
in having new sites found for them. But, the Egyptians decided they would be
dismantled anyway, and presented to the countries which helped them most.
A total of ten temples, including the Philae Temple,
between the two dams, were rescued and relocated, And, a further ten were
dismantled, and the blocks taken to Elephantine
Island, below the dams,
to await disposal.
The visit filled a gap for me. When I
visited Egypt,
all the guidebooks said was, "Several other temples were issued, and given,
as a token of appreciation, to the countries which had helped with the project."
The commentary in the temple filled some of
the missing spaces. It told about temples being re-assembled in the USA, the Netherlands,
Italy and Germany. But,
of course, the one we are interested in went to Spain.
Transferring the Debod Temple to Spain
Debod was the first temple to be rescued,
in 1960, although not in its entirety. The floors, the pylons or walls, and the
pier leading to the Nile were all abandoned on
the site. The decision to present it to Spain
wasnt taken until 1968, and, the following year, a Spanish team went to Elephantine Island,
to crate up the blocks for shipment to Spain.
The blocks were then rafted down the River
Nile to Alexandria, where they were transferred
to a ship for Valencia,
arriving there on the June 18, 1972.
They were then transferred to Madrid, where a team of
builders and Egyptologists assembled them, opening the completed temple to the
public July 18, 1972.
Since then, the Temple
of Debod has become an icon not of Egypt, but of Madrid, Spain.
Indeed, when I dud a Google search for a little bit of information on
its original location and movement, I could find nothing
apart from countless
statements that, if I was ever in Madrid,
I shouldnt miss this sightseeing visit. So, it would seem that if you need information on Temple of Debod before 1972, the only thing you
can do is visit it!
