Travels with Alyx: Aswan

We arrived in Aswan this morning (Monday) having traveled overnight by train from Cairo. The sleeper car experience was not what I expected from watching Harry Potter movies. (LOL) It was definitely bumpy and I got very little- if any- sleep.

My roommate, Bailey, in our sleeper car

Lights out!

Immediately upon disembarking we headed for the Philae Temple located on the island of Anjelika in the Nile River. A bus took us to the pier and we took a ferry to the island. Adham tells us how the temple is named for the original island where it stood. It was relocated decades ago. In its original location the temple was flooded every time the Nile River flooded. Then the waters would subside, leaving the temple nearly completely covered in slit from the River bottom. There is a black silt line that shows exactly how high the waters used to rise.

The courtyard

The entrance to the temple

View of the temple from the water

The temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis and celebrates the trinity, Isis; her husband, the falcon god, Osiris; and her son, Horus. The temple was actually constructed during the Greco- Roman era as part of an agreement between Alexander the Great and the Egyptian priests of the south. When Alexander conquered Egypt he moved the capital from the south to the north, and this lost control of the south. He then marched south with his troops and struck an agreement with the priests for the construction of numerous temples where they would be free to practice their religious beliefs. The temples constructed during this era have a mix of Egyptian and Greco- Roman architectural features, as evidenced by the Corinthian style columns on this temple. There are several other small structures and monuments on the island.

I’m standing inside of the temple of Hathor , one of the smaller structures on the island

The cartouche of King Ptolemy I

Note the Corinthian style detail at the top of the columns

The temple facade and some of the statues were damaged when the Romans adopted Christianity as their main religion and they attempted to destroy representations of the non- Christian religion of the Egyptians.

We journeyed back to the port and boarded to bus to go to the Cleopatra Perfume factory. I think that’s what it was called. There we were given a lesson on essential oils of ancient Egypt and we allowed to sample the oils and essences that they make there. During our short ride through Aswan I can see that it has a lot less litter than in Cairo. Adham tells us that “Aswan” means “marketplace” reflecting the main economic activities here from long ago. Because the soil here is pink granite, there is very little cultivation of crops.

At night we went to dinner at the house of a family on one of the many Nubian villages located along the Nile. It took a 40 minute ferry ride to get to the village. The village had a stunningly vibrant market place. The original location of Nubia is approximately 60 kilometers to the south but the people were relocated along the Nile, when the government built dams and created lakes to control the flooding of the river. The house itself features bright walls and wide open spaces for communal meals. The family was very gracious and kind. The meal was excellent. My favorite dish was the soup that featured orzo pasta. After dinner several of the women in my group got professional henna tattoos by one of the women of the house.