RPS.LAM

Aswan

Photographs by RPS

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The town of Aswan is located about 81 miles south of Luxor, has a distinctively African atmosphere. Its ancient Egyptian name was Syene. 

At Aswan, a wild jumble of glistening igneous rocks, strewn across the Nile, create a pinch point in the free flowing river, between the highlands of the Eastern Desert and the sandy wastes of the Sahara.

This is known as the First Cataract and was the place where the civilized world of Ancient Egypt stopped.

The island of Elephantine, on which our hotel, The Oberoi, now stands, was the capital of the Southern Border of Upper Egypt. Beyond it lay the “Land of Cush” , Nubia, the Sudan.

The flow of the Nile is now controlled by the Aswan High Dam, creating the vast Lake Nasser which stretches far into the Sudan. The Temples of Philae and Abu Simbel were threatened by the creation of the lake and were actually moved as the result of a huge UNESCO project.

The quarries of Aswan were celebrated for their stone, which was used to make the colossal statues and obelisks of Ancient Egypt. An unfinished obelisk still lies in a quarry near the Fatimid Cemetery.

Aswan has always been a centre for trade and it has a vibrant market. It is here that you really feel the mix of the African and Arab cultures.

Aswan – “The First Cataract”

Elephantine Island & The Oberoi Hotel

The Pool at The Oberoi Hotel - -

- - source of the “Best Gin & Tonic in the World”

The Old Cataract Hotel

A Nubian Village on Elephantine Island

The Ancient Nilometer on Elephantine Island

Kitchener’s Island

The Bird Sanctuary on Kitchener’s Island

The First Cataract

The Fatimid Cemetery

“The Unfinished Obelisk”

The Aswan High Dam

The Temple of Abu Simbel

The Temple of Philae

Aswan Market

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