Überblick
The institute’s records from the mid-1950’s onwards are less wide-ranging than the Institute’s Papers prior to the Second World War, and of an increasingly administrative nature. Nonetheless, they offer insights into the recent history of the Cairo department of the DAI, and into the collaboration with the Egyptian Republic in its infancy. Moreover, this collection allows the analysis of broader changes in research over the past decades, and their respective academic questions and discussions.
Among the greatest challenges within this period undoubtedly was the rescue of Nubian monuments endangered by the construction of the Nasser Dam in the early 1960’s. The DAI Cairo participated in this rescue mission. A central element of the task was the relocation of the Mandulis Temple at Kalabsha, which was the largest freestanding temple in Nubia. These endeavours were financed by the Federal Republic of Germany and carried out between 1961 and 1963 together with the Hochtief construction company.
While an unindexed fond (at present attached to the photograph collection of the DAI Cairo) documents the archaeological and architectural aspects, the institute’s papers collection, in turn, provides not only a detailed insight into the organisation and administration, but also the history of publication. The five archive boxes with 17 dossiers were digitalised between 2019 and 2020, although the cataloguing and reorganisation for the find aid tools remains unfinished (as of 2020). Integration within iDAI.archives is intended to begin in the near future.