The monument donated by Egypt to thank Spanish help in restoring archaeological remains is getting a conservation plan
The Egyptian monarch Adijalamani de Meroe never imagined that his burial chapel would end in the other corner of the Mediterranean, but history is capricious, so the monument dedicated to this king is now one of Madrid’s tourist attractions. The Temple of Debod, a slice of Egypt as Madrid-esque as Cibeles or Puerta de Alcalá, turns 50 this Wednesday in its host city, and the city’s capital is celebrating with a conservation plan to halt the decline.
In the early 2nd century BC, Adijalamani of Meroe built a small chapel in the town of Debod, on the northern border of Lower Nubia, dedicated to the gods Amun of Debod and Isis of Filé, which forms the original core of the temple of Debod. The walls depict scenes in which the king makes sacrifices to the Egyptian gods.
But 22 centuries after its construction, the original temple was in ruins. Spain, along with other countries, contributed to the restoration of the Abu Simbel temples, as part of the Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia. Funds were donated and the Spanish Archaeological Mission also took part, which excavated several sites on both sides of the Second Cataract between 1960 and 1965.
Madrid City Council explains that in 1964 Spain asked Egypt to donate the Temple of Debod, which, along with the Temples of Dendur, Taffa and Ellesiya, had been designated to be delivered to the countries that contributed most economically to the rescue. of the monuments Nubians. The Spanish request was accepted in 1967. The following year, a decree of the United Arab Republic granted the Temple of Debod to the Spanish state.
And the transfer was another odyssey. Since 1960, the ancient Debod Stones have been located on Elephantine Island, opposite Aswan. In 1969, a Spanish team led by Martín Almagro Basch took charge of the ashlars, which were transferred to Alexandria by the Nile. There they boarded the freighter ‘Benisa’, which departed for Valencia on 6 June. From June 20 to 28, the 1,350 boxes full of Egyptian stones were transported in 90 trucks to Madrid and dumped at the site of the ancient Cuartel de la Montaña, in the Montaña de Príncipe Pío, one of the places where 33 years before, some of the bloodiest massacres of the civil war had taken place.
The temple was installed in two phases. In October, November and December 1970, the original blocks of the temple and the two portals were put together. The gardens surrounding the monument were also designed and planted. In 1971 it was decided to rebuild the lost parts of the temple, in particular the vestibule and the facade, in order to ensure the preservation of the reliefs and, in general, of all the internal rooms. The terrace was also covered to prevent water from entering the building. The works were practically completed by June of that year, although it was not officially inaugurated until July 20, 1972.
However, the love story between the Temple of Debod and Madrid has had its ups and downs. The most infamous was in February 2020, when the almighty archaeologist and Egyptian minister Zahi Hawass warned of the monument’s poor condition during a visit to Spain. «We have given you a gift and you should appreciate that gift. Now you don’t value it. The Debod Temple is exposed to rain, to pollution. If you don’t take care of it, we will ask you to return it to us,” he told this newspaper.
Now Madrid City Council has analyzed the temple and concluded that no immediate action is required as there are no “serious conditions or pathologies that endanger it”. Still, the church board announces a preventive conservation plan for the temple in which the country’s institutions associated with the cultural asset conversation will participate, such as the Royal Academy of San Fernando, the COAM, several universities, the National Archaeological Museum or the Institute of Heritage of Spain.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
