12/17/2009
The friendship monument represents the friendship between the Soviet and Egypt. It is a 72 meter high monument in the shape of a lotus flower.
It was always thought that a dam in the area would be highly beneficial for the communities and agricultural lands. British engineers began working on the first Aswan Dam in 1899 and the construction continued for three years, but there was trouble since the Nile River has such strong currents so the height of the Aswan Dam was raised in 1907 and again in 1929. There were still issues and the dam nearly overflowed in 1946. The Egyptian authorities decided to build a second dam farther down the Nile River and construction began after the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 when Gamal Abdel Nasser gained political control of the country. The second dam was originally intended to be a joint effort between Egypt, the United States and Great Britain. However, the funding was pulled before construction began leaving Egypt unable to fully fund the project. The Soviet Union offered the necessary funding for the building of the dam. Most historians theorize that the Soviet Union only funded the Aswan Dam in an attempt to gain foothold in the area. For the construction, the Soviet Union provided technicians and large machinery. The construction lasted 20 years and was completed in 1970.
The friendship monument was a result of the help received from the Soviet Union. It was erected after the completion of the Dam construction, performed by over 30000 Egyptian constructors and 2000 Soviet Union specialists. Today, Russian engineers assist to control the technical state of the Dam.
The monument is absolutely beautiful. There is a wall inside the monument commemorating the completion of the Aswan High Dam. There are scriptures in Russian and Arabic on the inside of the monument. It represents the Soviet Union helping Egypt build the dam, being thankful and the resulting friendship between the countries.
Posted at 4:39 PM by Sarah Bonansinga