The Travel Bug: Wonders of Egypt #4/12 (Aswan)

Our original flight to Aswan was delayed (and eventually cancelled) due to "technical problems" with our Air Egypt flight. Sitting for 5 hours in a small airport at Abu Simbel with nothing to do is no joke. Thank goodness for Blackberries and Iphones! Anyway we were really glad when we finally disembarked in Aswan and was met by our guide.

Aswan High Dam

The High Dam had a great impact on Egypt, allowing for the water levels up and down the Nile to be controlled, increasing cultivatable land, helping to prevent flooding and also for energy generation. As a result of the rise in water level upstream of the Nile however, ancient ruins such as Abu Simbel and Temple of Philae would have been lost underwater if not for efforts to relocate and rescue them.

Completed in 1970, the Aswan High Dam took 10 years to build, and was funded mostly by the Soviet Union after the US withdrew their support.

Unfinished Obelix

Granite quarries at Aswan were where materials were mined for the temples and brought via the River Nile by boat to the building site. Lying in Aswan is an unfinished Obelisk that had already been cut and prepared. Found to have a crack however, its creation was abandoned and the structure has been lying there ever since.

Temple of Philae

The Temple of Philae was located on an island which would have been submerged underwater, and is one of the monuments that was saved by relocation onto to a nearby island with higher ground. From the island, you can still see some of the higher structures at the original site protruding from the water.

Similar to Abu Simbel, the temple was cut into large blocks, numbered and transported, then fitted back together like a jigsaw puzzle. The Temple of Philae was built for Isis, Goddess of motherhood and fertility.

Leading into the entrance of the temple are 2 rows of pillars. Most of the pillars on the left which have carvings are from the original, while many of those on the right which are plain, were recreated in order to give visitors a better feel of what it would have been like.

Like most temples, there is one main entrance symbolising the River Nile, and 2 exits 1 on each side. The right/east bank symbolises life while the left/west bank symbolises the afterlife.

Looking through the doors all the way into the Holy of Holies where the stone altar stands.

We were there in the late afternoon around sunset, and I loved wandering around the pillars and enjoying the light shining through them. Decided to post more photographs showing off the light, rather than the carved reliefs on the walls and pillars. (Will post more of those for the other temples)

One of the side external structures...

To be continued...