Identification and re-evaluation of heritage value in the Qurnah villages adjacent to archaeological sites on the West Bank of Luxor
During the fall of 2006 and upon the request of SCA, EAIS created a team of SCA inspectors with the responsibility to select a number of houses for preservation before the demolition of the Qurnah villages on the West Bank of Luxor.
35 houses were classified for preservation based on a number of criteria for heritage value; such as age, architectural significance, current condition and the unique traditional way of life they represent. Unfortunately, the intervention was not fully successful in preventing the demolition of these houses but the results were used to raise awareness about the situation in Qurnah and the importance of safeguarding unconventional contemporary heritage.
As a follow-up to this study and in an attempt to safeguard some of the remaining houses on the Qurnah hillside and to establish sound planning tools for the protection and development of the West Bank, EAIS extended the study to include a comprehensive survey of number of clusters. This was done in collaboration with the School of Architecture LaVillette in Paris, and the inspectors of SCA in Luxor. The objective of the survey was to study the West Bank not only archeologically but also architecturally and socio-economically, and to analyze the future development of the West Bank in order to suggest Site Management actions to be included in future development plans for Luxor West Bank.
Five areas were chosen for study:
- the Temple of Madinat Habu and its surrounding village,
- Qurnat Mar'ei,
- the Temple of Ramesseum and its surrounding village,
- the alabaster village east of the main asphalt road, and
- the temple of Sety I and its surrounding village.
In the first stage of the survey, the villages were surveyed and maps of each of the selected areas were created. The maps were accompanied with detailed architectural surveys of exceptional houses. In a second stage of the study the maps and plans of the first stage were used to discuss and study the problems of the West Bank as a whole; including new and planned urbanization, new routes, archeological sites, and the 2010 Master Plan of Luxor. Proposals that would lead to the elaboration of a new master plan with suggestions for solutions to the current problems, such as the integration of archaeological sites and modern villages on the West Bank, were elaborated. Solutions to the issues of houses still remaining on the hill side in Qurnat Mara’i and the damage caused to the tombs were also put forward. Other projects proposed how to use revived tourism to the Qurnah tombs to create a new economic resource for the villagers and how to reuse old houses to house archaeological missions or tourists, or to build new ones without interfering with the landscape in Qurnah.
The results of the study show that the villages in parts of Qurnah and the West Bank may have a number of values that would classify them as World Heritage, such as their unique architecture and the traditional way of life, which may now be lost forever. Yet, threats due to over urbanization remain real and rapid and needs swift control. Some of the suggestions will be presented to the SCA to aid the authority in the complex management of the West Bank World Heritage Site.
