Egypt (Part 2)

21 April to 23 April, 2025

Philae Temple

We flew to Aswan, on the upper Nile, and took a boat to the Isle of Philae, where the Egyptian authorities moved the Philae Temple, lock stock and barrel (!) to avoid its immersion in Lake Nasser that formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam. From Philae to Agilkia.

Dedicated to Isis, Goddess of healing, magic and birth, it was built during the Ptolemaic period…

..and thus has Egyptian, Greek and later-added Roman characteristics. The main motifs however, have Ptolemy XII bashing enemies’ brains out, under the approving gaze of Isis, Horus and Hathor. And the innermost room has a tribute to the scattered, dismembered Osiris.

Stewards of the site later added their own touches, as we can see from carved crosses and some 19C graffiti:

“…the temple of Isis on the island of Philae – which persisted as one of the last outposts of paganism – was finally rededicated, in AD 553, to St Stephen and the Virgin Mary.”*

40,000 blocks were dismantled and rearranged to sit above Lake Nasser, a 20 year project.

Trajan’s Kiosk (above) was designed as a grand eastern entrance to the Isis Temple, and the Gate of Hadrian (below), as it is known, on the island’s western side, contains the last known hieroglyphic inscription, dated 24 August 394 AD.

Time for everyone to enjoy a snooze:

Abu Simbel

It is a long drive – through some fairly dreary desert – located 20km from the border with Sudan – but well worth it.

Two great sandstone edifices were built for Ramses II in the 13C BC. (note the top row of baboons greeting the rising sun).

The branding was meant to impress and intimidate: showing the King busting heads, lines of defeated supplicants, and a royal bloodline. The inner chambers stretch back 60 metres into the cliff.

The main statutes are about 20 metres high for the Great Temple, 10m. for the Small Temple, were found under sand in 1813, and like the Philae Temple, were moved up a couple of hundred feet to escape the waters of Lake Nasser.

It is hot and hectic inside the temples, due to crowds and the ambient heat. The best thing about the inevitable gift shop was its air-conditioner: a few breezes also came off the lake, wafting over stray dogs and hawkers, one of whom, memorably, yelled “I don’t know what you want but I got it!”

The Unfinished Obelisk

A grand construction fail, weighing 1,085 tonnes, 134 feet long, it was not far-off completion and sandhill-assisted elevation, when a flaw in the stone was found and the obelisk was junked.

It is over 3,500 years old.

Chunks of Dolerite, a greenish mineral harder than granite, were used to fashion the obelisk and free it from the bedrock. The pounding process also helped to level and smooth the surfaces and left no chisel-marks. 

Aswan High Dam

After mooching about Aswan for a bit…

…we set out for the famous Aswan High Dam, first passing the Low Dam, just below the first Cataract, built by the British in 1902 to moderate the flow of the Nile (which was not wholly successful) and also to vindicate the Old Cataract Hotel (see above), guests including Churchill and Agatha Christie, where she wrote Death on the Nile (1937).

The new or High Dam is a miracle of engineering. Commissioned by President Nasser to tame the Nile floods, irrigate arid areas and produce electricity, it was built between 1960 and 1971, is 3,380 metres wide, 111 metres high, and created the world’s largest artificial lake, Lake Nasser.

The USSR helped Nasser out with financing (the old rascal used to solicit bribes from both cold war combatants), resulting in a charm-less lotus-shaped tower of thanks, fortunately not built of soviet-era concrete.

There were inevitable ecological consequences from the dam, naturally, but on the whole, it has been a marvelous boon to the nation. It comes as no surprise that the dam is heavily guarded. TVC asked Mohammad if any adversaries (well, the Israelis) had ever thought or threatened to bomb it, during the 1970s wars or beyond. He pointed to an answer to the same question several years ago by then President Moubarak, who said if Israeli jets ever managed to penetrate the deep south of Egypt, avoid the anti-aircraft artillery, and breach the dam, by the time they got back to base they would not find anything but a smoking ruin. If the dam broke, Cairo would be underwater in about 3 hours, so it would be mutually assured destruction.

Dams are a political hot potato, almost everywhere on the planet. An historical troublemaker for Egypt, Ethiopia, has been agitating about its own dam on the Nile. But if it strangled the river’s course into Egypt, it would be considered an act of war.

Nubian Museum

Between Aswan in Egypt and Khartoum in Sudan, were the Nubians, brown-skinned, fit, and under-the-pump. The Nubian Museum in Aswan honours their legacy.

 

We took our last night in Aswan to cruise the Aswan markets – TVC purchased some dates, nice mint spice, and a Fez (see above). But we will have more to say, next time, to the Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, about marketing to Anglos – the prevailing tactics just don’t work!

From Aswan, we boarded the good ship the “Grand Rose” to cruise the femoral artery of Egypt, the country being what Herodotus called the “gift of the Nile,” a wide, lush, green-belted river that flows quickly from Upper (South) Egypt to the Delta, emptying into the Mediterranean. One should not drink from it or swim in it. But it is the romantic river of yore, inspiring works of literature, song and film. Much more in our next post!

[* Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt (2000), p. 51.]