Plate 148 Ruins Of Maharraka, Nubia - After David Roberts
Roberts drew this composition on the 14th November 1838.
'After spending the whole night sailing down the river, in the early hours of November 14, Roberts came in sight of the Temple of Maharraka, which he had already visited ten days earlier. The small building was in advanced state of disrepair, but 14 of the 16 columns in the inner courtyard were still standing. Because of the roughly hewn capitals and almost total absence of wall decorations, the artist easily deduced that the building, like most of the Nubian temples, had remained unfinished because of the spread of Christianity in the region; in addition, the numerous frescoes depicting Biblical subjects that were still visible clearly demonstrated that the sanctuary, originally dedicated to Isis and Serapis, had been converted into a church. The temple, of which all that remains is the hypostyle room illustrated by Roberts, stood in the ancient Hierasykaminos (City of the Sacred Sycamore), which marked the southernmost border of the Roman Empire from 23 BC to AD 297. The spiral staircase in the north east corner leading to the portico roof constitutes a unique exception in Egyptian architecture, and can only be explained by the fact that the temple was almost certainly designed by a Roman architect.
The Temple of Maharraka, restored in 1908, was dismantled during the campaign to save the Nubian monuments and rebuilt at New Saboua. After the construction of the Great Aswan Dam, inaugurated on January 1971, no less than 20 temples standing on the banks of the Nile between the First and Second Cataracts ran the risk of being submerged by the waters of the great artificial Lake Nasser. In order to save them, UNESCO devised one of the most extraordinary international salvage programs ever undertaken to preserve architectural and art treasures, which concluded with the recovery of most of the sanctuaries in the preservation areas. Five of the minor temples were donated by Egypt to countries that had generously participated in the huge project (the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Spain) and reconstructed in those countries. The main ones were assembled in three different areas: New Kalabsha, where the rock temple of Beit el-Wali is also located, New Saboua and New Amada. However, despite these mammoth efforts, not all the Nubian monuments could be saved, and some of them lie forever beneath the waters of the Nile.' [1]
The drawings and watercolours from this tour by David Roberts of the Holy Land and Egypt were collated together into folios and released over a seven-year period by the publisher F.G. Moon from 20 Threadneedle Street London. This lithograph was published on August 1st 1846.
Medium: Original First Edition Lithograph, with later hand-colouring on thick woven paper.
Half Plate 148.
Inscribed l.r. 'David Roberts R.A. L Haghe Lith' and l.l. 'Wady Maharraka Nubia Nov 14th 1838', 25.1 x 34.6cm (lithograph size), mounted (40.7 x 49.7cm).
References:
[1] Fabio Bourbon (ed). Yesterday and Today: Egypt. Swan Hill Press: London, 1996, p.82. Translated by A.B.A. Milano.
Condition report: very good for its age. A few small markings and time staining most notable at the bottom of the lithograph, please see photos. Recently put into a new acid free mount.