EGYPT EXODUS FROM NUBIA " WE WENT TO THE GRAVES OF OUR 
ANCESTORS FOR THE LAST TIME, " SAID SHEIK AHMED MARDANI . 
" THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN CRIED AND WE TRIED TO CONSOLE 
THEM, BUT WE KNEW OUR HOMES WERE LOST AND OUR LIVES 
CHANGED FOREVER . " SHEIK MARDANI'S LAMENT WAS FOR HIMSELF AND 
100,000 OTHER NUBIANS IN EGYPT WHO LAST WEEK WERE BEING EVACUATED 
FROM THEIR ANCESTRAL HOMELAND ON THE NILE BANKS . THE EXODUS 
WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE THE ASWAN HIGH DAM, BEING BUILT BY EGYPT 
WITH RUSSIAN HELP, NEXT SPRING WILL BACK UP THE NILE, CREATING 
A HUGE 1,800-SQ.-MI . RESERVOIR THAT EVENTUALLY WILL GIVE EGYPT VAST 
NEW IRRIGATED ACRES AND ELECTRIC POWER . BUT IT WILL ALSO 
FLOOD THE GAILY PAINTED HOUSES OF THE NUBIANS, THEIR CEMETERIES, MOSQUES 
AND GROVES OF DATE PALM . WILD VALLEY . IN THEIR 
WILD, INACCESSIBLE VALLEY, THE NUBIANS PROSPERED TRANQUILLY FOR CENTURIES UNTIL THE 
FIRST ASWAN LOW DAM WAS BUILT IN 1902 . THE RISING 
NILE WATER DROVE THE VILLAGERS FARTHER UP THE CLIFFS, AND THE 
PROCESS WAS REPEATED IN 1912 AND 1933 AS THE DAM WAS 
SUCCESSIVELY RAISED TO A HEIGHT OF 182 FT . HALF OF 
NUBIA'S 30,000 ARABLE ACRES WERE LOST AND THE REMAINING 15,000 COULD 
ONLY BE HASTILY CULTIVATED WHEN THE NILE WAS LOW . AS 
THE LAND VANISHED, NUBIAN MEN SOUGHT WORK IN THE CITIES, WHERE 
THEIR PROVERBIAL HONESTY AND FANATICAL CLEANLINESS WON THEM JOBS . NOW, 
AT THE RATE OF 300 A DAY, THE REMAINING NUBIANS ARE 
BEING MOVED DOWNSTREAM FROM THEIR VILLAGES TO THE KOM OMBO AREA, 
SOME 40 MILES NORTH OF ASWAN . THE GOVERNMENT OF PRESIDENT 
GAMAL ABDEL NASSER, DETERMINED TO MAKE A SHOWPIECE OF KOM OMBO, 
IS AT WORK ON 25,000 HOUSES, 138 STORES, 33 MOSQUES AND 
36 SCHOOLS . THE HOUSES HAVE BEEN BUILT LARGELY TO THE 
NUBIANS' OWN SPECIFICATIONS, WITH HIGH-WALLED PATIOS, ANIMAL PENS, 12-FT . CEILINGS 
AND UP TO FOUR BEDROOMS PER HOUSE . THEY WILL SOON 
BE ADORNED WITH TRADITIONAL NUBIAN FRESCOES STYLIZED SCORPIONS, LIONS, FISH, SNAKES, 
SUNS, MOONS AND STARS . " AFTER ALL, " SAYS SHEIK 
MARDANI, " THERE'S NO LAW AGAINST BEAUTY . " THUNDERING EXPRESS 
. YET MOST NUBIANS WERE APPALLED BY THE FIRST SIGHT OF 
THEIR NEW HOME . GROANED ONE OLD MAN : / I 
USED TO BE AWAKENED EACH MORNING BY THE MURMURING RIVER WATERS 
. NOW IT IS THE DAWN CAIRO EXPRESS FROM ASWAN THUNDERING 
IN MY EARS . " IN NUBIA, POLYGAMOUS HUSBANDS HAD SEPARATE 
HOUSES FOR EACH WIFE ; AT KOM OMBO, A MAN'S WIVES 
MUST SHARE HIS HOUSE, AND MANY HUSBANDS, DISMAYED BY THE PROSPECT, 
HAVE DIVORCED ALL WIVES SAVE ONE . BUT A MAN WHO 
RISKED KEEPING BOTH HIS WIVES CONCEDES THAT THE ARRANGEMENT HAS ADVANTAGES 
. " HERE I DO NOT HAVE TO MOVE FROM HOUSE 
TO HOUSE . I GO ONE NIGHT TO ONE ROOM, THE 
NEXT NIGHT TO THE OTHER ROOM . IT SPARES THE STRENGTH 
OF MY WIVES AND IS GOOD FOR ME, TOO . SINCE 
I HAVE A THIRD BEDROOM, I'M THINKING OF GETTING A THIRD 
WIFE . " NUBIAN WOMEN SEEM HAPPY ABOUT THE MOVE . 
STONE WALLS AND CONCRETE FLOORS ARE A WELCOME CHANGE AFTER A 
DUSTY LIFETIME OF ADOBE AND MUD . BESIDES, THERE ARE MOVIES, 
TELEVISION, SCHOOLS AND CLINICS . AS THE NUBIANS FILE ABOARD THE 
PADDLE STEAMER HEADED FOR KOM OMBO LOADED DOWN WITH PALM FIBER 
BEDS, CARVED WOODEN CHESTS, MAGICAL AMULETS, GOATS AND SHEEP THEY TRY 
TO EXORCISE THEIR GRIEF OF LEAVE-TAKING BY SINGING . ONE SONG 
RUNS : " THE NILE IS DROWNING NUBIA AND WE MUST 
FORGET THE PAST . THE RIVER BRINGS LIFE AND THE RIVER 
BRINGS DEATH . / 