Hot Time in Aswan with a Nubian Feast and Abu Simbel Temples Visit--10/5--7/2023

When we got into Aswan at about 9:30 am, it was already about 90° with temperature ranging from 107 to 114° while we were there—it was HOT!!

Fortunately, our Obelisk Hotel was beautiful with views from every room of the Nile River with refreshing A/C, except for one morning when all the electricity went out for a few hours.

We took a cooler and refreshing boat ride on the Nile River out to Philae Island where we toured the Temple of Isis. This entire temple was moved out of the flood waters of the Nile to where it is now. Between 1972 and 1980 this massive temple complex was disassembled into 40,000 pieces and reconstructed 20 m higher on this island.

Construction on this temple began around 690 BC and was one of the last Roman outposts where the Isis Goddess was worshiped as the Romans began converting people to Christianity. This cult began in the 7th Century BCE.  The cult of Isis continued here until at least CE 550.  After that Christians defaced some of the pagan reliefs and later the Muslims further vandalized this site.  It is noteworthy that what still remains an awe-inspiring site. 

The Kiosk of Trajan is an unfinished monument to the Roman Emperor, Trajan, who ruled from 98 to 117 AD.  It was one of the more frequently painted monuments in Egypt by Victorian artists.

Our boat now returned to Aswan to see a few more sights in the area.

On the way back to our Obelisk Hotel, we stopped by a fragrance store where we sampled all types of perfumes that they had made by crushing rose petals and other materials and sold them to perfume companies without adding any alcohol--just pure essence. Some smelled like popular perfumes like Shalimar--my wife's favorite--Obsession, and Chanel 5.

Aswan is Egypt’s southernmost city and has a large Nubian population, many of whom are refugees from Sudan.  Egypt does not have any Sudanese refugee camps because the Egyptian Nubian communities and families have absorbed these refugees from war-torn Sudan.  When the High Aswan Dam was built between 1963-65, it displaced 50,000 Sudanese Nubians and 70,000 Egyptian Nubians.  The Egyptian government relocated them by attempting to retain their traditional settlements with mixed success.

In the evening we took a small motorboat across to Elephantine Island which has a large Nubian community where we had dinner with a Nubian family. After a huge feast is vegetables, rice, and meat one of our travelers, Kasia, was surprised by a birthday cake in her honor. 

The Musaka dish in front was my favorite.

She was also given a henna design on her hand as a present from our Nubian host.

After dinner, we returned to our hotel for an early morning start to the 4-hour drive south to Abu Simbel Temple, just 20 km (12 miles) from the Sudan border. 

We left our hotel around 4 AM for a long drive south to Abu Simbel.  This desert drive was only broken up by a few stops at a combination cafe-gas station-grocery store.  

The Abu Simbel Temple had been moved out of the floodwaters of the Nile when they put in the high Aswan Dam. They cut it up into 4,000 pieces for the move.  By comparison, the Philae Temple was cut into 40,000 pieces for their move.

The great temples of Ramses II and the Temple of Hathor make up the temples at Abu Simbel along the shore of Lake Nasser and are among the most famous and spectacular monuments in Egypt. They were carved out of this mountain between 1274 and 1244 BC.  The Ramses II Temple is on the left and the Temple of Hathor is on the right of the picture below.

Our Intrepid Tour guide, Hady, is describing the temples at Abu Simbel.

I approached the entrance to the Ramses II Temple.

The four pharaoh sentinels seem to guard the entrance to the inside chambers. Once inside the carvings depict many of the stories of the successes and adventures of the pharaoh Ramses II. These temples were carved out of the limestone mountain between 1274 and 1244 BCE.

The wall carvings, paintings, and statutes depict the successes and victories of Ramses II.

The Temple of Hathor to the right of the Temple of Ramses II is fronted by six 10-meter statues of Ramses II and his spouse, Nefertari, with some of their children nearby.

This temple celebrates family, joy, love, and motherhood with Nefertari as the central character honored.

It was then back to the bus for the 4-hour drive back to Aswan where the following morning, we boarded a Felucca sailboat for a cruise down the Nile River followed by sleeping on the Felucca before heading to Luxor by minibus.

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