An Exquisite Toy: The Temple of Dendur, a Gift for New York

The Roman-era Egyptian Temple of Dendur was the last archaeological gift that New York City received. The Egyptian government gave the temple to the United States in thanks for the United States’ economic support of the UNESCO campaign to save the monuments of Nubia that would be submerged by the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. This chapter first examines the economic and political wrangling required to move the threatened temples, colossal statues, and tombs, as well as the motives of President Kennedy, the US government, and American academics in advocating for US participation in the UNESCO project. The US government selected the Metropolitan Museum of Art rather than the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, as the temple’s new home. The display context of the temple—in a new wing in one of the most famous museums in the world—positively impacted its legacy, introducing Egyptian art and architecture to subsequent generations and promoting tourism in Egypt. The gift of the temple is also placed in the larger context of the use of exhibitions, such as the 1961 Tutankhamun Treasures and the wildly popular and successful Treasures of Tutankhamun exhibition in the late 1970s, to foster cultural understanding and better relations between Egypt and the United States. The Temple of Dendur was an effective diplomatic gift, the new star piece in the Met’s outstanding collection, and an antiquity that affirmed that New York City was still a great metropolis despite the financial, social, and political problems facing the city in the 1970s. Today, the Temple of Dendur is a popular setting for movies, parties, and even protests.