Elephantine Island

Elephantine Island
Elephantine Island is one of the most beautiful places to visit in Aswan. It is like a piece of paradise with its some gardens and precious archeological relics. It is a great place for entertainment, where visitors can enjoy strolling among the black houses in the Nubian villages of Siou and Koti on the island, fishing in the Nile, or taking a walk on its banks.

Beit El-Wali Temple

Beit El-Wali Temple
Beit El-Wali Temple is  one  of  the  5  temples  cut  in  the  rock which were built by Ramses II in Nubia. It contains a residence of columns and a terrace adorned with letterings and multiple-color texts in addition to pictures of the King in the battlefield.

The area also consists other temples that are still under development, to wit the temples of Al-Dekkah, Al-Dorr, Al-Sobu’, Aamda and Al-Mahraqa and Ebrim Palace as well as the tombs of "Banout and Abou Auda".

Kalabsha Temple

Temple of Kalabsha
Kalabsha Temple is  one  of  the  most  magnificent  temples  in Nubia. It dates back to the geological era of the Octavious Augusts ( Roman emperor ) in 30 B.C. It was moved from its original home on the Nile’s west bank and rebuilt left the High Dam.

Kalabsha Temple is the largest temple built of sandstone  in  Nubia.  Its  walls  hold  inscriptions and engravings which draw the Egyptian story of ( Isis and Osiris ).

Nubia Old Temples

Nubia is the address of the land that stretches from the south of the 1st cataract of the Nile in Aswan to Dongola beyond the fourth cataract in Sudan. This  country  encompasses  the  surveying  restored temples:

- Kalabsha Temple
- Beit El-Wali Temple

Philae Temples

Philae Temples
They are based to the south of Aswan. Philae or (Phili) in Greek means (the beloved woman or women).

Its Arabic figure is (Ans El-Wogoud) in source to a myth with the like name in “The One Thousand Nights and Night” stories. The ancient Egyptian and Coptic name was "Pilak or Pilakh" which agency “the end” because it was the most southern edge of Egypt. It houses a group of temples that were dedicated to the worshipping of Isis, Hathor, Amenhotep and others. Latterly, they have been placed in Agilkia Island in implementation  of  the  design  of  Nubia  monuments rescue  against  the  new  subterranean  water. Visitors of the temples can view the Sound and Light show in several languages.

The Small Abu Simbel Temple

Small Abu Simbel Temple
It is placed to the north of the Great Abu Simble Temple, and was constructed by Ramses II to honor and  commemorate  his  beloved  wife  Nefertari and  for  Hathor,  the  Goddess  of  Love,  Music and Beauty. Although the temple is little than the great one, it is characterise by its beautiful drawings and bright colors.

The Sound and Light prove was introduced to the 2 temples.

The Sun Festival at Abu Simbel

Sun Festival at Abu Simbel
Complete more than 3000 years, one of the extended  miracles  has  been  taking  place  at  the Great Abu Simbel Temple with the shafts of the sun cutting into the sanctuary and informative the sculptures of pharaoh Ramses II and 2 statues of Ra-Hurakhti, God of the Sun, and Amun, God of Thebes on the back wall. Only the statue of Ptah, the god connected with the Underworld, remains in the dark. This phenomenon takes place in 2 large days of the year; on the dates that  mark  the  pharaoh’s  birthday  (October  21) and his investiture day in February 21.

Through that two days, thousands of tourists from all over the world come to Abu Simbel to watch this phenomenon during the the Sun Festival. The festival plan includes music performance and story about the era after Ramses II ascended the  throne  of  Egypt  in  nine  languages; Arabic, French, English, Spanish, Deutsch, Russian, Italian, Japanese, and Chinese.

The Great Abu Simbel Temple

Great Abu Simbel Temple
Façade of the Great Abu Simbel Temple is about 33 metres high and 38 meters wide. It was cut  63  meters  secret  into  the  rocks.  Four  colossal 20 metre statues of Ramses II, embodying the most important gods, decorate the façade of the Temple. Though large, the sculptors were creative in sculpture the Pharaoh’s pretty face and his  spiritual  smile  that  welcomes  the  shining sun. Previous the statues, there is a frame in which the names and titles of King Ramses II, the glorified, the born from the sun and the taken from it,  were  inscribed. Above  the  frame,  there  is  a frieze  of  spiritual  serpents,  followed  by  other frieze of baboons in a row producing their arms in the air and, supposedly, worshipping the rising sun. The catch, in the middle of the façade, is crowned by the statue of God Ra-Hurakhti. Next to and between the legs of the four colossi, there are other statues, no higher than the knees of the Pharaoh,  of  the  family  of  King  Ramses  II  (his mother, his favored chief wife Nefertari, and his sons and daughters).

Abu Simbel

Abu Simbel Area
Abu Simple consists in lower Nubia, south of Egypt, near the Sudanese border, about 280 km southwest of Aswan. It is a deal cliff of reddish sandstone that used to stand excellently on  the  west  bank  of  the  Nile  (and  now  on  the west bank of Lake Nasser behind the High Dam). In this area, Ramses II, the third Pharaoh of the 19th ancient Egyptian dynasty, had 2 temples cut in the rocks. The 2 temples were thought to make Nubia populated and reenforce the Egyptian sovereignty on it as well as to establish the Pharaoh’s  being  a  God  and  record  his victory over the Hittites at the Battle of Kadesh.

The 2 temples were full in 1206 BC and  were  thought  among  the  most  proud temples of ancient Egypt. They are visited the Great Abu Simbel Temple and the Small Abu Simbel Temple. With their outstanding architecture, good scales, larger statues and the inscriptions decorating the walls, the two temples are the most spacious and beautiful of all Egyptian rock temples in all times.

Tourism in Aswan

Tourism in Aswan
Aswan is qualified by several tourist features that made it a address for tourists from all over the world, especially in winter. It has a moderate and dry climate due to its position on the Nile east bank. It is taken an international winter resort and likewise an open museum for some archeological landmarks which date from to various ages and spread all over the city such as:




List of Aswan Monuments:


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Aswan

Right bank of the Nile in  the city of Aswan
The city of Aswan is a magnificent tourist goal. It is likewise Egypt’s southern gate to Africa. It lies on the east bank of the River Nile that smoothly flows in splendor through the granite rocks about the Emerald Islands. It is covered with palm trees and white plants, which gives it a good view on the Nile and makes it a perfect starting point for Nile cruises.

In  Ancient  Egypt,  Aswan  was  identified  as "Sono"; or the market, due to then goes a commercial centre for the convoys coming from and going to Nubia. Through the Ptolemaic era, it was called "Syene", and then the Nubians called it  [Lipa-Swan].

It was also known as the "Land of Gold", as it was involved a great treasure; being a burying ground for the Nubian pharaohss who lived there for thousands of years. Before the known Nubians migration, Aswan used to extend from Isna to the east towards the borders with the Sudan to the south. Afterward the Islamic conquest, some Arab tribes knew there.

Aswan has a widespread fame thanks to its essential history  and  magnificent  geography.  7000  years ago, there in Aswan the outstanding civilization on the  River  Nile  had  egressed.  During  the  Old Kingdom, Aswan run a great role in defending the country’s southern borders. Aswan was as well the armies gathering center during the Middle  Kingdom  when  kings  tried  to  thrive  their govern  towards  the  south,  not  to  mention  during fighting against Hyksos. Philae Island, the homeland of God Isis, had also pulled the care of the Ptolemaic so that they completed the construction of its large Philae Temple.

In an attempt to get closer to the Egyptians, the Romans erected many Pharaonic-style temples. An instance of those temples is a close one in Philae  Island  established  by  Emperor  Trajan. When  Christianity  went  Egypt’s  religion  in the 5th Century AD, various Pharaonic temples were become into churches. Philae Island had went the center for one of the bishoprics, thus taking to the spread of Christianity in the southern towards Nubia in Egypt and the Sudan.

Since  the  coming  and  spread  of  Islam,  some writings in the Kofi penmanship that date back to the 1st Century AH have been discovered in Aswan. During the Islamic epoch and in the 10th Century AD, Aswan has expanded and became a road to (Aivab) on the Red Sea coast, where ships used to sheet to Hejaz, Yemen and India.

Aswan  was  as well  an  essential  cultural  central during the 6th and 7th centuries AH where 3 schools had been established (namely Aswan, Al-Saifiah and Al-Najmiah schools). What Is More, Mohamed Ali Paha had as well established the first military school in Egypt there about 1837.

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