Aswan - Philae and the Temple of Isis

 We have an early breakfast and flight to Aswan, two hours away in southern Egypt.  I first heard of the Aswan Dam or Aswan High Dam in high school.  At that time it was one of the biggest dams in the world.  The dam was built between 1960 and 1970 by the Soviets and is almost 5 miles upstream of the Aswan Low Dam which was built in 1902.

The dam created Lake Nasser.  It was built mainly to control flooding and generate hydroelectricity.  Like any dams built, there were controversies.  Many residents whose homes were flooded lost their ancestral homes.  In Egypt some important archaeological sites were flooded.  Two important and well-known archaeological sites were moved to higher ground.  We are to visit these sites in the 3 days that we are in this area.

Aswan High Dam

We boarded a boat in Aswan to ride to the Philae Temple Complex.  This temple complex was moved to higher grounds to save it from the rising waters of Lake Nasser.  Philae is an important part of Egyptian history.  Below are some photographs from the island.

Gladys explaining the sculptures and artifacts

A bunch of weary tourists - nothing to do with Philae

Following the visit to Philae we took the boat to a nearby restaurant by the lake for a beautiful lunch.

Taking the boat on the nile

Lunch at a local restaurant

A beautiful lake

A beautiful and tasty meal

Vendors selling their crafts

Later that afternoon we checked into the world-renowned historical Old Cataract Hotel.  I was surprised put us in such a beautiful hotel.

Beautiful bedroom

Beautiful bathroom

View of the Nile from the bedroom window

That evening we had dinner with a local family.  Our hostesses were two sisters who are Nubians.  They originated from early inhabitants of the central Nile valley around northern Sudan and southern Egypt.  They are mostly dark-skinned and differ culturally and ethnically from Egyptians.

Dinner with two Nubian sisters