Aswan

In Aswan the Nile is at its most beautiful, flowing through amber desert and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm gorves and tropical plants. Explore the souk, full of the scent and color of spices, perfumes, scarves and baskets. View the spectacular sunsets while having tea on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel. Aswan has been a favorite winter resort since the beginning of the nineteenth century, and it's still a perfect place to get away from it all.
Once the ancient kingdom of Kush, Nubia is the stretch of land next to the Nile from Aswan down to Khartoum in the south. Nubians are depicted in many tomb paintings and reliefs, usually as mercenaries or traders. Nubians still have distinct traditions, architecture and languages, even though many migrated either to Aswan and Kom Ombo or south to Sudan after Lake Nasser swamped much of their traditional homeland. Nubia contains dozens of sites of archaeological interest, including 24 temples, as well as fortresses and tombs. Many of these, including Dendour, Ellessiya, Amada and Wadi al-Sebowa were menaced by the waters of the High Dam. Some have been moved, most notably Philae, Kalabasha and Abu Simbel. Other salvage operations are ongoing. The Nubian Museum is being built near Aswan to house rescued artifacts.

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Sights to See

Elephantine Island

Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, with artifacts dating to predynastic periods. This is probably due to its location at the first Cataract of the Nile, which provided a natural boundary between Egypt and Nubia. As an island, it was also easily defensible. In fact, the ancient town located in the southern part of the island was also a fortress through much of it's history. At one time, there was a bridge from the mainland to the island.
Elephantine is Greek for elephant. In ancient times, the Island, as well as the southern town, was called Abu, or Yabu, which also meant elephant. The town has also been referenced as Kom, after it's principle god of the island, Khnum (Khnemu). It is believed that the island received it's name because it was a major ivory trading center, though in fact, it was a major trading post of many commodities. There are large boulders in the river near the island which resembled bathing elephants, particularly from afar, and this too has been suggested as a reason for the island's name.
The island is very beautiful, and while many of the artifacts there are in ruin, there is still considerable to see. One of it's main attractions is it's Nilometer, which is one of only three on the Nile, which was used to measure the water level of the Nile as late as the nineteenth century. There has been an ongoing excavation at the town for many years by the German Archaeological Institute, and some of the finds along with many other island artifacts, including a mummified ram of Khnum, are located in the Elephantine Museum. Another major attraction is the ruins of the Temple of Khnum. Elephantine Island was considered to be home of this important Egyptian god, and while this structure dates back to the Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th Dynasty, there are references to a Temple of Khnum on the island as early as the 3rd Dynasty. There are also ruins of a Temple of Satet, who was Khnum's female counterpart (the three local deities were foremost Khnum, but also Satet and a local Nubian goddess Anqet. These gods were worshipped here since the earliest dynasties), also build by Queen Hatshepsut, a shrine to Hekayib from the 6th Dynasty, a local governor who was deified after his death. His cult flourished during the middle kingdom, and some fine statues from the shrine are now in the museum. You will also find a 3rd Dynasty granite step pyramid which is now just visible, and to the north, the mud-brick vaults of the late period which housed the bodies of the royal rams. On the south end of the island is a small one room Ptolemaic temple which was constructed from materials removed from the Kalabsha Temple. Here, there are decorations attributed to the Nubian Pharaoh Arkamani from the 3rd century BC The building seems to have been finished by the Romans with reference to Caesar Augustus.
Other artifacts and archaeological sites have been removed or destroyed. Prior to 1822, there were temples of Thutmose III and Amenhotep III, both of which were relatively intact, but they were destroyed in that year by the Turkish government. A rare calendar, known as the Elephantine Calendar, dating to the reign of Tuthmosis III, was found in fragments, and a Papyrus dating to the 13th dynasty and known as the Elephantine Papyrus was also discovered. It is unclear where these artifacts are currently located. A stela with inscriptions commemorating the repairs made on a 12th Dynasty fortress which honored Senwosret III was also found, and is now in the British Museum.
Elephantine Island is a beautiful place to visit, with wonderful gardens and some truly significant artifacts. It is also a good place to spend some leisure time, wondering among the Nubian villages where the people are friendly and the houses are often very colorful. The houses often have paintings or carved with a crocodile at the bottom, a fish in the middle and a man on top, with a woman's hand made of brass as a door knocker between the fish and man. Others will have a sacred black cube of Mecca, with a painting depicting the means of the owner's pilgrimage to Mecca.

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St. Simeon's Monastery

This abandoned monastery on the west bank at Aswan is considered to be notably typical of early Christian Monasteries, and was one of the largest Coptic Monasteries in Egypt, with perhaps thousands of residents. It was begun in the 6th century, but it is believed that most building took place in the 7th century. It was first dedicated to Amba Hadra (Amba Samaan, Anba Hadra) , a bishop of Aswan and saint of the late 4th century. It was said that just after his wedding, he encountered a funeral procession which inspired him to live the remainder of his life as a hermit (Editor's Note: We wonders if his new wife thought he was a saint).
This fortress Christian monastery originally had walls ten meters tall, with keeps or towers which were used as lookout posts against enemies, and two levels. The lower level of stone is mostly intact, but he upper level of mud-brick has all but vanished. The monastery was rebuilt in the 10th century, but destroyed in 1173 by Saladin who feared that it might serve as a refuge of marauding Christian Nubians who made forays into southern Egypt.
This site has never been systematically excavated, but religious functions where centered in the lower part of the site, while living quarters and working areas were in the upper. Thick walled keeps or towers served as lookout posts, and as a last line of defense in case the outer walls were overrun. In the lower level there is some remains of early Coptic paintings on the walls. Arches within the keep also demonstrate an early form of ventilation.

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Unfinished Obelisk

Much of the red granite used for ancient temples and colossi came from quarries in the Aswan area. Around these quarries are many inscriptions, many of which describe successful quarrying projects. The Unfinished Obelisk located in the Northern Quarry still lies where a crack was discovered as it was being hewn from the rock. Possibly intended as a companion to the Lateran Obelisk, originally at Karnak but now in Rome, it would have weighed over 2.3 million pounds and would have been the worlds largest piece of stone ever handled. However, a crack in the stone occurred, which caused it to be abandoned. Tools left by it's builders have given us much insight into how such work was performed. The site has recently been renovated and equipped with tourist facilities. Nearby is the Fatimid Cemetery.

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The Tombs of the Nobles

The northern hills of the west bank (Qubbet el-Hawwa or Qubbet el-Hawa meaning windy dome) are filled with the rock-hewn tombs of princes from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period. The 6th Dynasty tombs, some of which form linked family complexes, contain important biographical texts. Inside, the tombs are decorated with vivid wall paintings showing scenes of everyday life, hieroglyphic biographies and inscriptions telling of the noblemen's journeys into Africa. The 12th Dynasty tombs of Sarenput I (#36) and Sarenput II (#31) have the finest art, and it is said that some work in the number 31 tomb rivals that of Memphis. The Tombs are numbered, and among other's they include: Sarenput I (#36), Pepynakht (Hekayib) (#35), Harkhuf, Khunes, Sarenput II (#31), Sibni (#25), Mekhu (#26), Qubbet Al_Hawwa (Kubbet el Hawa).

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The Aswan Dam

Built by the British between 1898 and 1902.

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Sites of interest across the border in Nubia

The Temple of Ramesses II)

(The Temple of Nefertari dedicated to Hathor)
The two temples at Abu Simbel are among the most magnificent monuments in the world. Abu Simbel was first reported by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813, when he came over the mountain and only saw the facade of the great temple as he was preparing to leave that area via the Nile. The two temples, that of Ramesses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burckhardt found them.

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Philae (Now on Agilika Island)

The Philae Temple complex is set alongside Biga Island. To the ancient Egyptians, Biga was the sacred mound, the first ground created from Nun out of Chaos. This was the legendary burial place of Osiris. The earth was considered to be part of his body so that only priests and temple servants were permitted to live there.

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Kalabsha Temple

Map of Kalabsha
Map of Kalabsha

Kalabsha Temple at Kalabsha (Talmis). Also nearby is Beit al-Wali. Reachable by taxi or by boat, depending on the water level, the sandstone edifice was built by the Roman Emperor Octavius Augustus (30 to 14 BC) and dedicated to the fertility and Nubian Solar deity known as Mandulis (Merwel who was the Nubian counterpart of Horus).
It was the largest free-standing temple of Egyptian Nubia and the design of Kalabsha Temple is classical for the Ptolemaic period with pylons, courtyard, hypostyle hall and three room sanctuary. However, the Pylon is offset, which creates a trapezoid in the courtyard beyond. It was built on the site of an earlier structure built by Ptolemy IX as evidenced by a chapel. There is also a small chapel and gate on Elephantine Island from Kalabsha, and a gate built by Augustus was given to the Agyptisches Museum in West Berlin.
The courtyard just inside the pylon once had columns on three sides. At either end is a staircase that leads to the upper stories of the pylon and a good view of Lake Nassar. On the right screened wall separating the courtyard from the hypostyle hall is an inscription from Aurelius Besarion (about 249 AD), the governor of Ombos and Elephantine, decreeing the expulsion of swine from the town for religious purposes. On a column here is the text of King Kharamadoye and is one of the longest Meroitic inscriptions found to date. On an end wall is thought to be an inscription of the 5th century Nubian King, Silko, who conquered the fierce Nubian Blemmyes. Other seances on the on the screen walls include the King with Horus and Thoth. On the rear of the vestibule are scenes depicting a Ptolemaic king making offerings to Isis and Mandulis. Also, Amenhotep II, who founded the original temple (1450 to 1425 BC) upon which this one is built, is making offers of wine to Min and Mandulis.
After the vestibule are three chambers, the pronaos (a chamber preceding the sanctuary, the naos, or sanctuary where statues of gods were located, and the adyton, which is the innermost or secrete shrine). Various seances within these chambers show the King surrounded by the goddesses of Upper and Lower Egypt, Amun-Min and Ptah while receiving holy water from Thoth and Horus. In the naos and adyton, the king is making offerings to Osiris, Isis and Mandulis.
There is also a small chapel which can be reached from stairs in the first chamber which then descend from the roof into the chapel set inside the wall. As you leave the temple, be sure to note the rear wall with images of Mandulis with his vulture feathered cloak.

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Kiosk of Qertassi

To the south of the Kalabsha Temple near Aswan is the light, almost delicate Kiosk of Qertassi (Kertassi), with its two Hathor-headed columns.

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Beit al-Wali

Nearby the Kalabsha temple, dug into the hillside, is another of Ramesses II’s Nubian monuments to military might. Beit al-Wali celebrates his victories over the Nubians, Ethiopians, Asiatics and Libyans. Inside there are two proto-Doric columns, and brightly colored scenes inside the temple show Ramesses making offerings to gods, including Isis, Horus, Khnum, Satet and Anukis.

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