Tombs of the Nobles

The Tombs of the Nobles

The Tombs of the Nobles were  ordained  to  the  rulers  of Aswan and Elephantine Island in the old years. They are located on the west bank of Aswan. The tombs are carved in sandstone. They have a historical importance that points them at the spotlight of the tombs of Upper Egypt. The most important of these tombs are Mekhu and Sabni tombs that act the architectural style of the tombs at that time. The dedications on the walls of the tombs prove the titles of the governors of Upper Egypt, the posts they occupied and the characters they played to protect the area as well as their journeys in middle of Africa.

Amun Island

Amun Island is a smaller island in Aswan. Recently, a hotel was established there.

Amun Island

Agilkia Island

Agilkia Island

Agilkia  Island  comprises  the  Philae  Temples and  memorials  that  were  flooded  by  the  Nile and were relocated and reassembled on the island 500 meters from Philae Temples place.

A gilkia Island is an island in the reservoir of the Old Aswan Dam along the NileRiver in southern Egypt; it is the show site of the relocated Ancient Egyptian temple complex of Philae.Partially to completely flooded by the old dam's structure in 1902, the Philae complex was dismantled and relocated to A gilkia island, as part of a wider Unesco project referred to the 1960s construction of the Aswan High Dam and the final flooding of many sites posed by its large reservoir upriver. A gilkia , like the island, was the name chosen for the projected landing site on a comet by the Rosetta place craft mission's Philae lander. Upon first touchdown yet, the lander took a large bounce followed by a smaller one before finally getting to rest perhaps a kilometer away from A gilkia, named Abydos.

Nilometer

The Nilometer in Aswan

The Nilometer dates back to the Roman era and it shows the scales of the Nile flood in Arabic and Greek languages. It had been practiced till late.

This Nilometer is one of the most whole relics of Elephantine Island. Remember that a Nilometer was in fact an cat's-paw. Dissimilar many types of artifacts, an tool and particularly an instrument as important as the Nilometer had to be kept in a state of repair to be functional. The Elephantine Nilometer has been dated to Roman times, with markings in cubits (about 2 1/3 inches). Yet, this was likely only a renovation, and while all of the special pieces have been substituted at some point, there has probably been a Nilometer here, are close here for as long as Nilometer have existed. There are dedications from the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis III (18th Dynasty) and of Psammetichus II (26th Dynasty) about here. Afterward having been idle for some time, the Nilometer was again rebuilt by the French and Arab during the 19th Century and placed back in use. Hence, it now has markings in French and Arabic. Today, satellites are applied to measure water flushes, and the Aswan Dam has alleviated the need for such instruments.

Kitchener's Island

Kitchener's Island

A Felucca ride by local boat from the side bank of the Nile in Aswan and a three hour drive from Luxor City with an alternative to fly from Cairo to Aswan in about one hour.

Kitchener's Island is also known as the Island of Plants, set on the Nile near Aswan in the South of Egypt. Introduced with the island in gratitude for his military exploits in Sudan, Consul-General Kitchener gratified his love for exotic flora, importation shrubs and seeds from as far afield as India and Malaysia. Today this island-wide botanical garden is a lovely place to spend a low afternoon (except on Fridays), with much of birdlife. The island is accessible by rowing boat or felucca from the west bank or Elephantine. The broken strait between Elephantine and Amun island looks its best from a Felucca. If you are not already waterborne, the surrounding coves are frequented by local lads who'll blithely sail you to any of the islands or the West Bank.

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:

Abu Simbel Area

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The Great Abu Simbel Temple

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The Sun Festival at Abu Simbel

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The Small Abu Simbel Temple

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Philae Temples

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Nubia Old Temples

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Kalabsha Temple

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Beit El-Wali Temple

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Elephantine Island

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Kitchener's Island

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Nilometer

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Agilkia Island

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Amun Island

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Tombs of the Nobles

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Saint Simeon Monastery

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The Unfinished Obelisk

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.

The Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt

List of the Pharaohs of The Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt.

Hetepsekhemwy
Reneb
Weneg
Ninetjer
Sened
Nubnefer
Neferkare
Neferkaseker
Peribsen
Sekemib
Khasekhemwy

Khasekhemwy (2732—2705)

Cartouche of King Khasekhemwy

Khasekhemwy (2732—2705) was the fifth pharaoh of the 2nd Dynasty was likely responsible for the union of Upper and Lower Egypt. Not much is known nearly him, save the fact that he undertook big military campaigns. A statue of him which occupies in the Cairo Museum, demonstrates the first use of hard stone work during this stop. He is responsible for the building of a large granite door jamb inside the temple of Hierakonpolis, and for the construction of many of the mortuary complexes at both Saqqara and Abydos.

The most outstanding figure from the second dynasty and probably the whole Early Dynastic Time, was pharaoh Khasekhemwy. He really should have the title "Unifier of the two countries". Afterward winning the fight against the North that had went during the prevail of his predecessor. He chose Hierakonpolis in the far southern to be his capital and it was the first and last time the united Egypt was ruled from there. It took some effort to win the war and inscriptions from granite vessels discovered in his capital tells about his fights with the North, described as "rebels".

Being diplomatic he did not favour any of the main gods Horus and Set when the military fight was over. He simply put them both atop of his serek, thereby hoping to make peace and order to the country. He as well changed his name putting to it an additional -WY making it say - "The Two Powers Come Forward", instead of single one (Set) that he had before. In result he also put another commander's staff to his serek thereby making his different political view visible.

Statue of King Khasekhemwy

He as well made a campaign in to Nubia and adopted a new title: "overseer of the outside lands" that shows his involvement to keep contact abroad. His names has thus been discovered all the way up to Byblos in Syria. His tomb a little aside the others in Abydos is a remarkable construction unlike any of the earlier memorials there. The design is a somewhat (diplomatic?) mix between the north style mastaba-tombs and the traditional square constructions from the south. On top of all he placed it on "neutral" ground some 100 metres aside the old cemetery. He also held the tradition from most of the earlier kings by making an inclosure 1,8 kilometres towards the Nile from his tomb, probably for rituals of his mortal fad.

The size was far bigger then his predecessors: 69 m in length and 10-17 metre wide made of walls a good 2 m high. When it was dug in 1900 it still contained half a dozen applies such as chisels and woodcutting tools made of copper. In the middle was the grave chamber built in stone, the first of its kind. The ability to handle this material was shown for the first time in Egyptian history by the statues of Khasekhemwy that have survived from a find in Hierakonpolis. If they are portraits more such than gods images, the king seems to be a man with a discovered look in his face, and a firm mind, and this seems to have been the characteristics of the pharaoh. The most strikingly remain from him is the huge building he made at the capital Hierakonpolis. On the west side of the Nile a bit inside the desert lies the oldest known monumental building of sun-dried bricks in Egypt.

Sekemib (2743—2732)

Nothing is known about Sekemib. But he was a pharaoh of the second Dynasty. Some scholars suggest that Sekemib reigned towards the end of the dynasty while others references to "Wadjenes" place this ruler near the beginning of the dynasty.

Peribsen (2751—2743)

Observed by three kings, sendji, neterka, neferkara, before khasekhemwy, Peribsen was the fourth king of the Dynasty 2. He was really not the legitimate heir of Nintejer. In fact, many historians believe that the king was an outsider who instigated coup against King Nintejer. King Peribsen used the designation of seth in his titles. Unfortunately, nothing from Peribsen's era is well documented except for his mortuary complex near Abydos.
King Peribsen was a ruler who had his roots in the South, and was probably ruling from there throughout his time on the throne. Not a single trace of him is base in Lower Egypt with an elision of a writing with his name discovered in Sakkara and brought there in afterward times. He was the first pharaoh to write his name within a cartouche as seen in a preserved cylinder seal now in the Egyptian museum in Turin in Italy.

He made a remarkable change in royal custom by putting the god Set on top of his serek, (picture right) thereby disregarding the old south Horus falcon that from earliest times had been the symbol of pharaoh. This move was plain a political,/religious statement and he thereby took side in the current conflict between the supporters of these gods.

Vesse foundl in the tomb of Peribsen

Another King called Sekhemib-Perenmaat (see aabove) might have been a separate ruler, but most scholars take the view that this was the name of Peribsen before "conversion". "King Sekhemib" thus has no tomb in Abydos but the name has been got on labels in the domain inside and outside Peribsen's tomb. When he became king of Upper Egypt it might have been after civil war against Lower Egypt. His opponent might perchance have been king Sened and these two thus found each part of the Nile Valley. At some point Peribsen took over the whole country. We know this from inscriptions getting from his tomb in Abydos that tell about tribute, or conqueror?, concerning the town of Sethroë in the delta.