Cruising the Nile

Photo courtesy of Flickr

First on our tour- the unfinished obelisk It lies, in its original location, in a granite quarry in Aswan. It is 138 feet in length and was probably abandoned when cracks appeared in the rock during its construction. Had it been completed, it would have been the heaviest obelisk ever cut in Ancient Egypt, weighing nearly 1100 tons! It is believed that it was constructed and abandoned during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty).

Temples of Philae…Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan. The Ancient Egyptians built a Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that a number of countries banded together and attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island. The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible. A cofferdam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. The project took over 9 years and the Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980.

Back to the boat…cruising down river north to the Temple of Kom Ombo dedicated to the God Sobek, the crocodile God, together with his wife, the Goddess Hathor.

The vendor's call around Kom Ombo… “See you later alligator…on the Nile crocodile”
John shopped for a galabeia…. the guy tried to sell him the clothes off his back…