Aswan is Egypt’s southernmost city and lies, like Luxor and Cairo, on the shores of the Nile River, at its first cataract. To its north lies some 750 miles of the Nile until it reaches the Nile Delta and the Mediterranean Sea. What sets this beautiful city apart from Cairo and Luxor, however, is that its buildings occupy only the East Bank and two islands in the river, with its barren West Bank’s sand dunes, literally, on the watersedge. The West Bank has only a handful, albeit supremely notable, structures including the Monastery of St Simeon, the Aga Khan Mausoleum and the Tombs of the Nobles. Aswan is located roughly where the Western Desert and the Eastern Desert meet, and just north of the great expanse of water created by the Aswan Dam known as Lake Nasser. Aswan has a gorgeous winter climate and is a popular sun resort from November through to March with Egyptians as well as international holidaymakers. Temperatures tend to be around 22-32°C (89.6°F). Hugely attractive, Aswan is the busy market centre of the region. In fact, its ancient name of Swenet, if translated literally from symbols of the time, means ‘trade’. It can trace its history back to ancient times when it is believed to have been the site of the very first Egyptian community. Its people had moved from the desert dunes to the fertile banks of the Nile in search of a supply of water, fish and land on which to grow produce. They would then trade their goods and so its reputation as a trading centre developed. As Swenet, the city had the important role of protecting Egypt from invaders at its southernmost boundary. In Pharaonic Egypt times, during it is believed every dynasty, the city was a military town. Its stone quarries are said to have provided the granite rock known as Syenite for most of the fabulous temples, columns and obelisks built by the pharaohs, including the Pyramids of Giza.
Abu Simbel
Some 320 km outside of Aswan in Nubia lies what can only be described as the truly remarkable Temple of Abu Simbel. It was carved directly out of the sandstone cliffs along the Nile and built by Ramses II. Built under the pretense of dedication to the gods Amon Ra, Harmakis, and Ptah many would say it was built for Ramses own glorification. On the face of the temple are four huge statues of King Ramses II seated on his throne. Each individual statue is 20 meters high, four meters from ear-to-ear, and one meter across the mouth. Statues of Amon Ra, Harmakis, and Ptah once stood at the heart of the mountain from which this temple was carved. Twice a year the sun would penetrate the entrance of the temple, into the mountain, and shine on Amon Ra and a statue of Ramses II. About 20 minutes later it would then move to shine on Harmakis but, interestingly enough, would fail to ever shine on Ptah, the God of Darkness. In the temple's yard, there is a group of monuments, the most important of which is the famous marital monument on which is registered the story of the marriage of the Pharaoh and the daughter of the Hethean King; after signing the first peace treaty in the world between Egypt and Khita. In the hall of columns, there are eight huge pillars on which is sculpted the statue of Ramses taking the figure Osiris, the God of the Dead. This hall is also known for its northern wall on which is represented the Battle of Kadesh. The southern wall depicts a dazzling scene of the King and his sons attacking the Syrian citadel, and at the bottom we see a shepherd trying to escape the victorious King. Just beside this scene, the King is pictured again holding an enemy in one hand and stabbing him with the other. This scene is somewhat remarkable as the enemy appears to be of the same size as the King while in other scenes enemies were always humiliated by being smaller than the King. The Temple of Abu Simbel contains many other scenes of no less importance than the ones already described - indeed it is worthy of at least one full days exploration. Truly this is a temple not to be missed.