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Empress of the Nile, the daredevil archaeologist who saved Egypt's ancient temples from destruction, Lynne Olson

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Empress of the Nile

Lynne Olson

the daredevil archaeologist who saved Egypt's ancient temples from destruction

In the 1960s, fifty countries contributed nearly a billion dollars to save a dozen ancient Egyptian temples from drowning in the floodwaters of the Aswan High Dam. But the press coverage at the time overlooked the French archaeologist who made it all happen. Without the intervention of Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, the temples would now be at the bottom of a vast reservoir. A wilful real-life version of Indiana Jones, Desroches-Noblecourt refused to be cowed by anyone or anything. During World War II, she joined the French Resistance and was held by the Nazis; in her fight to save the temples she challenged two of the post-war world's most daunting leaders, Egypt's President Nasser and France's President de Gaulle. As she told a reporter, 'You don't get anywhere without a fight, you know.' Yet Desroches-Noblecourt was not the only woman who played an essential role in the historic endeavour. The other was Jacqueline Kennedy, who persuaded her husband to call on Congress to help fund the rescue effort. After years of Western plunder of Egypt's ancient monuments, Desroches-Noblecourt did the opposite. She helped preserve a crucial part of Egypt's cultural heritage, and made sure it remained in its homeland

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