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Aswan
City:
 Aswan,
Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town located about
81 miles south of Luxor, has a distinctively African atmosphere. Its
ancient Egyptian name was Syene. Small enough to walk around and graced
with the most beautiful setting on the Nile, the pace of life is slow
and relaxing. Days can be spent strolling up and down the broad Corniche
watching the sailboats starching to the sky with their tall masts or
sitting in floating restaurants listening to Nubian music and eating
freshly caught fish.
In
Aswan the Nile is at its most beautiful, flowing through amber desert
and granite rocks, round emerald islands covered in palm groves and
tropical plants. Explore the souk, full of the scent and color of
spices, perfumes, scarves and baskets. 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. Every night Nubian dancers and
musicians perform in the Cultural Center, just off the Corniche.
Folklore troupes recreate scenes from village life and perform the
famous Nubian mock stick-fight dances.
Aswan
is considered to be a perfect Winter resort, its weather is dry and hot
in the Summer time, fine in the Winter, Autumn and Spring. Cotton
clothes and light shirts are preferable when going there, & just a
jacket if it gets a bit chilly in one of the winter's nights. It's a
small city of about 34,608 km2 with a population of about 1,042, 000.
Agricultural and industrial activities take place to establish the
city's economic economy besides income from tourism.
Tourist information
The
city proper lies on the east bank of the Nile. Relax here, visit a few
mosques, but then prepare for an adventure. The bazaar runs along the
Corniche. Just east of the cemetery in the famous area quarries is the
gigantic Unfinished Obelisk . Just to the south of this, two
Greco-Roman sarcophagi and an unfinished colossus remain half buried in
the sand.
The 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.)
The
most obvious is Elephantine Island , which is timeless with artifacts
dating from pre-Dynastic times onward. It is the largest island in the
area. Just beyond Elephantine is Kitchener's Island (Geziret el-Nabatat).
It was named for the British general Haratio Kitchener (185--1916) who
came to Egypt in 1883 to reorganize the Egyptian army, which he then led
against the Sudanese Mahdi. But the island is known for its garden and
the exotic plants that Kitchener planted there, and which continue to
flourish till today.
On the
opposite shore (west bank), the cliffs are surmounted by the tomb of a
marabut, Qubbet el-Hawwa, who was a local saint. Below are tombs of the
local .
Up the
river a bit is the tomb of "Mohammed Shah Aga Khan" who died in 1957.
Known as the Tomb of the Aga Khan , it is beautiful in its simplicity.
A road from there leads back to the Coptic Monastery of St Simeon ,
which was built in the sixth century in honor of Amba Hadra, a local
saint.
There
is also the old Aswan dam, built by the British, which was enlarged,
expanded, but unable to control the Nile for irrigation.
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 its
history.
It is
believed that the island received its 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 far, 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 its main attractions is
the Nilometer, which is one of only three on the Nile, was used to
measure the water level of the Nile. 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 Tutmosis 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 Tutmosis 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 Senosret 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 doorknocker 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.
Kitchner's Island :
(Plant
Island, Gizirat al-Nabatat, Plantation Island, Gizirat al-Bustan,
Botanical Island)
Kitchner's
Island is a botanical garden, filled with exotic plants and trees
imported from all over the world. It is a perfect place to spend a lazy
afternoon in the shade. The island must be reached by boat, and is
located on the other side of Elephantine Island from Aswan. The Island
was given to Lord Kitchner for his campaigns in the Sudan, and he moved
there and created his garden, importing plants and trees from all over
the world. Today, the Egyptian government operates this popular tourist
destination.
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 there
are numbered. At night they are illuminated with hidden spotlights and
can be clearly seen from Aswan.
Mausoleum of the Aga Khan
 This is
the Mausoleum of the spiritual leader of the Shiite, based principally
in India but with followers around the world. It is a very elegant pink
granite structure of late 1950 origin, which also resembles the Fatimid
tombs in Cairo. The Mausoleum has an excellent view, including Aga
Khan's white villa below, and is near the Monastery of St. Simeons on
the west bank at Aswan.
The Aga
Khan was extremely wealthy. On his birthday in 1945, he was weighed in
diamonds, which he then distributed to his followers. It should be
noted, also, that he was a large man. Every day that his widow was at
the Villa, she places a Red Rose on his white Carrara marble tomb. His
widow, Omme Habibeh, popularly referred to as "The Begum" died on July
1st, 2000. Mohammed Shah Aga Khan was educated in Europe and succeeded
his father in 1885 to become the 48th imam. His grandson, Karim AGa Khan
upon his death in 1957, succeeded him. The Mausoleum is no longer open
to the public.
The Monastery of St. Simeon
(Deir Amba Samaan)
 This
abandoned monastery near the Aga Khan Mausoleum 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 first dedicated to Amba
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.
This
fortress Christian monastery originally had walls ten meters tall, with
towers used as lookout posts against enemies. The lower level of the
tower was made out of stone is mostly intact, but the upper level of
mud-brick was 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.
In the
lower level there is some remains of early Coptic paintings on the
walls. The arches in it demonstrates an early form of ventilation.
Elephantine Island Museum :
The
Elephantine Museum is located on Elephantine Island and has artifacts
primarily related to that area. The white clapboard house where the
museum is located also has the distinction of being the former villa of
Sr. William Willcocks, the designer of the first Aswan dam. The museum
includes a mummified Ram of Khnum, a golden bust of Khnum, statues of
Amenhotep III with goddesses and prehistoric schist basins.
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