This entry about Christiane Desroches Noblecourt first appeared in a Dispatch, the updates sent to all Society members. You can join for free here.

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Little choices have big impacts.

The Nazi Gestapo officer interrogating the young woman couldn’t have known he held the survival of Egyptian antiquity in his hands. He wouldn’t have even had time to think of it. The Gestapo had been busy ever since General Charles de Gaulle had called for the free French people to join the resistance against Nazi Germany. De Gaulle had done this, of course, without authorisation from the Vichy government led by General Petain. But, ever since then, the Gestapo had been scouring everywhere for the enemy. Was this young woman one of the hidden rats? Pulled from a train in Moulins by a suspicious SS officer, she was claiming to be the Louvre’s acting curator of Egyptian antiquities. All he saw was an unafraid, defiant woman. In fact, the woman became more irate as the interrogation went on, berating his colleagues for their utter lack of manners. After three days of questioning and after enduring her constant disdain, the Gestapo officer let her go.

In letting her live, he also did the same for many Egyptian wonders, including the magnificent temple of Abu Simbel.

The woman in the interrogation room, Christiane Desroches Noblecourt, was telling the truth. Well, mostly telling the truth. She was the Louvre’s acting curator of Egyptian antiquities. But, like many of the Louvre staff at the time, she was also a member of the French Resistance. This unrelenting attitude in the face of immense pressure would become her legacy.

The Reveal

Christiane first became fascinated by ancient Egyptian history at a very early age. On a visit to Place de la Concorde in Paris as a child, she first encountered the magnificent Obelisk of Luxor. The sight captivated her and fuelled an interest in ancient Egypt. Encouraged by her artistic and liberal parents, she poured over books about pyramids and hieroglyphics. Only 10 years old when the tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered, it was then she knew she had found her true passion: archaeology.

She studied Egyptology at the Louvre and gained her diploma there in 1935, with her PhD two years later. She headed to Egypt immediately but her presence wasn’t always welcome. Women were rare in the field and only found in assistant roles. In fact, the French traditional academic system did not consider a woman capable of the leadership required. So, when she first arrived in Egypt and despite all her training she was told to cook the meals and be a nurse. But, with typical vigour, she fought back. Eventually, in 1938, she became the first woman to direct an excavation dig in Egypt. During this time she excavated sites at Edfu, Karnak and many others, in locations still visited by tourists today. But not long after she made her biggest discovery, World War 2 broke out.

The Rescue

She returned home in now-occupied France to a job at the Louvre. Here her job shifted from discovering the artefacts in the field to saving the treasures already discovered. The German army was sweeping across Europe with incredible speed. As they did, thousands of precious artworks, artefacts and treasures were disappearing in their wake. Christiane took on the role of history’s rescuer, smuggling treasures out of the Louvre to be hidden in the countryside. She drove trucks laden with statues and artwork through gunfire and artillery shells, saving hundreds of priceless pieces from the grasping hands of the Nazi elite.

In 1942, she married Andres Nobelcourt and had one son, but as soon as the war ended her focus was back on the field. Andres had no problem with his wife leaving for extended periods. As Christiane put it, “He was too intelligent to try to prevent me from doing what I wanted to do.” She divided her time between family and Egypt, leading more excavations and making more discoveries across the country. Now as the acting head of the Egyptian department, she was finally paid for her work. All the discoveries prior she had undertaken for free, with no salary available for a woman.

Uncovering the past was slow, exploratory work and Desroches Noblecourt loved it. But, that slow pace was about to change. In 1954 she received word that the Egyptian government, under the leadership of Gen. Gamal Abdel Nasser, had decided to build a gigantic dam on the Nile. The High Aswan Dam, as it is now called, would aim to provide electrical power and stabilise the water levels of the seasonal Nile floods. But, the reservoir created would be enormous, resulting in the flooding of over 5,000 square kilometres. Inside these 5,000 square kilometres were priceless historical monuments. Desroches Noblecourt decided to act. She met with General Nasser and explained that thirty two temples and historical ruins were facing utter destruction. The General replied that wasn’t against saving them but couldn’t, or wouldn’t, afford the massive costs of doing so. Without a beat, she looked at him and said “Let me handle it”.

So he did.

And she did.

The Reality

The Cold War was well underway by now and in 1956 the nationalisation of the Suez Canal sparked a regional war. This also meant colonial powers like England and France were no longer welcome in the country. With this backdrop, she rallied UNESCO to the cause and corralled over fifty countries to donate towards the efforts. Looking for allies, she recruited high-profile people to her cause. As an example, to get the USA to overcome their objections, she brought First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy into the cause.

Juggling all these competing interests wasn’t easy, even when it came to her own country. She learned the small Temple of Amada was to be destroyed, with its beautiful painted reliefs washed away by the water. On hearing this, she quickly announced France would save it by donating the rescue funds. The only problem was France didn’t know it yet. She contacted Charles de Gaulle, now President of France, to let him know. The president was furious and shouted, “Madame, how dare you say that France will save the temple, without authorisation from my government?” To this, Desroches Noblecourt replied, “General, how dare you make an appeal on the radio without authorisation from Pétain?”

France donated the funds to save the temple.

The Relocation

The biggest challenge by far for Christiane was the relocation of Abu Simbel. This massive temple from 1265 BCE stood in harm’s way, and the only chance for it was to move further inland, away from the rising floodwaters. By this time this was decided the dam was already underway, so every single hour counted. Making it more complex, it was decided to not just move the temple. Instead, they would also preserve the ‘intent of the temple’. This meant the entire temple, including the interior and not just the façade, was to be moved. It meant moving mountains. The temple itself was built over 20 years, and they had less than a quarter of that time to plan it, dissect it, move it and rebuild it. The stone itself was incredibly fragile and one wrong move could see the work damaged beyond repair.

There were also added complications. As is the brilliance of the early Egyptian construction, the temple is arranged in such a way that on October 21 and February 21 (61 days before and 61 days after the winter solstice), the sun’s rays can penetrate the interior of the temple. In doing so they illuminate the sculptures on the wall, primarily the statue of the pharaoh Ramses II himself, ‘restoring’ him with the sun’s rays. The believed theory is that these two days, and the only two days this happens, are his birthday and his coronation date. The statues of Amon Ra and Ra-Horakhty are also partially illuminated on these days, putting Ramses II with or above the status of the gods. The nearby statue of Ptah, the god associated with the underworld, remains in shadow.

So, not only did they need to move the temple and reassemble the fragile blocks without any error, they had to keep the remarkable magic of the temple’s alignment. In an incredible feat of engineering and international cooperation, the team got to work. They dissected the temple into large blocks weighing anywhere from 20 to 30 tons. Each delicate block was painstakingly cut by Italian experts in marble work, flown in for the purpose. The blocks were then picked up and moved 300 metres inland and 65 metres higher. Once in the right location, they were then painstakingly reassembled in position, with no gaps to be seen.

There were over 2,000 workers involved from countries all around the world, so to say that it was purely Christiane’s doing isn’t accurate. It is fair to say though that without her work in bringing it to the attention of the world and then organising the response, it is unlikely to have happened. As an example, she wrote a book called “Tutankhamun: Life and Death of a Pharaoh” not long after hearing of the dam plans. The book was a best seller and she used it to persuade the Egyptian government to allow the export of the Tutankhamun treasures to France for a temporary exhibition. This exhibition was then visited by over a million people, with all proceeds going towards the funding of the Abu Simbel rescue.

The Result

After years of careful planning and work, the final stone was laid into place. As this happened, the rising waters of the dam flooded the area the temple once stood. The only change from the original temple, apart from its location, is the illumination dates of the Ramses II statue. Due to its change of location, it is now one day earlier. Not even modern masters can recreate the mathematical brilliance of the early Egyptians, although it comes pretty close.

In a show of thanks for this effort, the Egyptian government gifted the Louvre, of which Desroches Noblecourt was the Egyptian head, the treasured bust of Amenhotep IV. This was followed by another Ramses II exhibition a few years later with more priceless treasures. This Ramses II exhibition also included sending the mummified body of Ramses II to France for testing. It was an amazing sign of trust between these two nations. In a classic example of bureaucracy, the mummy needed a passport issued.

Christiane Desroches Noblecourt died in 2011 at age 97. She was awarded the highest honours in both France and Egypt, as well as honours in many other countries. She published dozens of books, all bestsellers. Her rescued artefacts remain on display in museums around the world and her own discoveries are still being studied to this very day.

Her proudest achievement still remains on display in Egypt, next to the lapping shores of Lake Nasser, drawing thousands of admiring visitors a year.