How much are the cultural assets of various countries worth, in terms of GDP? Calculating this solely on “cultural tourism” is reductive; there is also, usually more significant than the former, a second-level benefit that we could define as “positive bias.” We all have a particular, a priori sympathy for Greece; we studied it in school as the cradle of our civilization. Something similar happens for Italy: a foreign tourist who has visited Florence and Rome, and who was pleased with their experience, will always associate a positive image with Italy, will buy wine or other Italian products even at home to relive that experience, will purchase Italian clothing because they were captivated by the elegance seen in Italy. All of this translates into wealth for us.
Since 2005, “The Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index” has been published annually. This report is based on interviews with sixty thousand people, conducted in a total of twenty countries around the world. The questions are divided into six macro categories: a) export (how much a nation’s “made-in” increases the positive perception of the product); b) governance (perception of public efficiency and good governance); c) culture; d) people (essentially how “likeable” the population is judged to be); e) tourism (how much people would like to visit that nation); f) immigration (desire to live there). The result leads to a ranking of the top 60 nations in the world. At the top are, in order, Germany and Japan. I think their image of seriousness, good governance, and technological capability works in their favor: objectively, many of us are willing to pay a premium for a car or an appliance made in those two countries compared to those from the rest of the world. In third place is Canada; it is probably seen as very similar to the United States, but without the aversion that the latter (which are only eighth in the overall ranking) provoke in various inhabitants of the planet.
Italy is fourth. Regardless of how we think of ourselves, it is comforting to know that the rest of the world views us with a remarkable mix of sympathy, respect (and envy, for our quality of life). It is a “positive prejudice” that translates into wealth when people from the rest of the world have to choose, for example, where to go on vacation, which product to buy, or which side to take, at least initially, in the case of an international dispute.
This excellent information, however, does not exclude the fact that much more can be done. For example, in Italy, there are significant territorial differences: not all Italian regions are able to enhance their cultural heritage to the same extent.
Coming to Sardinia, if I pose this question to the reader: “Which civilization, contemporary to the Egypt of the Pharaohs, and lasting for millennia, was technologically advanced and had unitary characteristics?”, I can imagine the answer: the Mesopotamian civilization. Almost correct, even though in Mesopotamia there were a plurality of different peoples (Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Hittites, etc.) who alternated, mixed, and fought, while Egyptian civilization was unitary. Then? The Greek one? No, it is not that ancient and was not unitary but very fragmented across the various epochs. The Hittite one? No, it lasted only a few centuries. And so, for one reason or another, all the others. So? Ancient Sardinia.
Astonishment! Yet, it is a fact. The Ancient Sardinian Civilization lasted over four millennia, was contemporary to that of Ancient Egypt, and developed a great technical capacity in architecture, metallurgy, navigation, surgery… It was a demographically significant society: at its peak, in the second millennium B.C., Sardinia probably reached five hundred thousand inhabitants, many fewer than the four million estimated for the Egypt of the pharaohs, but still in a world where only fifty million people lived across all its continents. The demographic importance of Sardinia, relative to the world population of that time, was more than double that of the United States of America today! The stepped altar of Monte d’Accoddi, very similar to the Mesopotamian ziggurats, is the oldest building in all of continental Europe: its construction began seven hundred years before the Pyramids… and there are many other records as well.
It is evident that the Ancient Sardinian Civilization was not of the same “magnitude” as the Egyptian one: the nuraghi are not the pyramids, nor are the tombs of the giants remotely comparable to the splendor of the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings. Yet, the proportional level of knowledge between the two civilizations is much more than commensurate with their importance.
Let’s be honest: The Ancient Sardinian Civilization is unknown to most… although there is no shortage of evidence: the complete list of “monuments” (nuraghi, proto-nuraghi, temples, sanctuaries, collective burials, etc.) known and visitable is almost twenty thousand. Prestigious archaeologists have dedicated their lives to studying them, and there are dozens and dozens of qualified scientific texts on the subject. However, the knowledge of this civilization has never actually crossed the narrow boundary of the world of specialists. The monuments are stones, and stones, to fascinate us, must “speak” to us. The ancient Egyptians do: the pharaohs, the scribes, the sacred cats, the anthropomorphic gods, the mummies, the slaves who built the pyramids, the soldiers in battle chariots, and many others are alive and real in our imagination. The ancient Sardinians, on the other hand, “do not speak to us”; they are currently unable to convey the emotions, for example, of the gripping tale of a stele in the temple of Luxor that recounts how a platoon of cadets saved Ramses II in the battle of Qadesh.
It is intuitive the contribution that a proper investment in the knowledge and accessibility of its immense cultural heritage could bring to the island, especially in the case of a region with a developed tourism vocation. Sardinian tourism is currently only fleeting and thus limited in time, a couple of summer months, and in space, only the coasts. It is evident how cultural tourism would break through these two boundaries and be a driving force for further categories of tourism (sports, environmental, etc.). It is equally evident that an investment in the image of Sardinia would translate into the “positive bias,” as referred to in the mentioned Anholt-Ipsos report, for all its products.
Based on these considerations, a group of friends (of which I am also a part) has created a voluntary association called La Sardegna verso l’Unesco. The fundamental objective is to raise awareness among the Sardinian public about how much wealth could be generated by enhancing their cultural heritage, as well as to assist the ruling class in realizing it by providing ideas and operational projects.
To date, the actions already undertaken by the association have been:
The presentation to Unesco of the dossier to obtain recognition, as a World Heritage Site, of the Nuragic Civilization. It is one thing to be convinced that the Ancient Sardinian Civilization has enormous cultural value, another thing is to have it certified at such a prestigious level. Currently, only the Nuragic Royal Palace of Barumini is part of Unesco, an imposing castle, and related village, dating back to the 18th century BC (that is, five hundred years before Agamemnon besieged Troy and Moses led the Jews out of Egypt). The ongoing effort is to include another thirty-one Nuragic sites, identified as the most important by a scientific committee formed by the Universities and the archaeological Superintendencies of both Sassari and Cagliari;
The illustration to the Sardinians, and especially to the youth, of the history of those four millennia, which is not part of the school curriculum. To this end, a group of volunteers, largely composed of young archaeologists, is systematically making presentations to middle and high school students throughout the Region, but also at universities for seniors, cultural clubs, etc.
The assignment of a primary international consulting firm, with particular experience in tourism, to map the current situation, including the knowledge of the ancient Sardinian Civilization at the European level, to indicate the necessary actions and investments for its enhancement, also based on others’ experiences (what the Jordanians have managed to achieve, in just a few years, compared to Petra!) and to assess its potential economic impacts on the GDP of Sardinia. This work will be presented to the public on October 14 by a panel of prominent personalities (all non-Sardinians but all lovers of Sardinia), representing the main professions to be involved: journalism, cinema, tourism, culture, management consulting;
The organization, for the upcoming month of November, of an international scientific congress where important specialists in various fields (economists, archaeologists, etc.) will come to Sardegna to illustrate their point of view, as well as, of course, to better understand the Ancient Sardinian Civilization.
I have spoken about this initiative not only because it fascinates me, but especially because if anyone wanted to contribute with ideas, relationships, and experiences, it would be more than welcome!
by Roberto Timo
Excerpt from his article for the magazine “Libro Aperto” directed by the President of Abi Antonio Patuelli