Т. 2. Азия и Африка: Наследие и современность

240 Азия и Африка: наследие и современность. Т. 2 Herman Bell (University of Exeter, UK) The Intangible Heritage of the Nubian Nile with a Tribute to the Late Dr. Abdelhalim Sabbar (MBChB) When the Soviet Union provided finance and technical aid for the High Dam near Aswan, a young man in Nubia wrote a letter of protest to Chairman Nikita Khrushchev. The Nubian homeland was about to be flooded. The protest received a reply typed in red letters from the Kremlin. The young man was offered a scholarship to continue his studies in the Soviet Union. He is Dr. Eltijani Mursi, who is now Financial Secretary of the Sudanese Nubian Association — UK 1 . Egyptian and Sudanese Nubia were destined to be flooded. In 1960 UNESCO issued an appeal to save the ancient monuments. The response was positive. The great temples of Abu Simbel were moved to a nearby hill above the area to be flooded. Many other features of the tangible heritage were saved. However, the intangible heritage of Nubia has suffered severely. Residents were resettled far away from their ancestral homes by the river Nile. Links with religious sites, familiar toponymy and the historic environment were broken. Nubian songs, poems and oral traditions were usually expressed in the Nubian languages. Not taught in the state-sponsored educational system, the Nubian languages were not only threatened, but seriously endangered. In order to face this serious challenge a particular type of scholar is ideal. He/ she is not only the brilliant scholar who has mastered the techniques of research in Western universities. He/she should also be a living encyclopaedia of the local languages and their culture. 1 The Sudanese Nubian Association — UK: OpenCharities (opencharities.org/charities/ 1115984). СЕКЦИЯ XIX. СЕКЦИЯ АФРИКАНИСТОВ: «ЧТЕНИЯ ПАМЯТИ Д. А. ОЛЬДЕРОГГЕ» AFRICAN STUDIES: “ IN MEMORIAM OF D. A. OLDEROGGE”