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Aswan a city in South Egypt near the High Dam, located 899 km away from Cairo. It’s a perfect destination to stroll and relax and considered one of the most interesting destinations in Egypt. The name Aswan is derived from the ancient Egyptian world “Soun” which means in Arabic “Souq” and in English “Market or trade”, the city earned that name since ancient times due to its strategic position to Egypt’s security in the south and its great role as a trade center in ancient Egypt. Moreover, the city gained high importance after so many discoveries happened there, Egyptologists and archeologists call it “The land of Gold” because it was a huge necropolis to the pharaohs and their treasures were kept there from thousands of years.
In the historical background of Aswan, it is said that the city was known to be the city of (Swenett), later on known as (Syene). Swenett is supposed to be derived from a name of an Egyptian goddess, you can also find that name known according to the Greeks as (Eitheylia) and (Lucia) by the Romans.
You can enjoy the beauty of the city and the splendid view of the River Nile cruising, flowing through beautiful granite rocks and round emeralds islands covered in palm groves and tropical plants, the reflection of the golden sun in the water would certainly add to this vibe. It’s a great experience to discover the Nile culture, Henna tattoo, buying souvenirs and African made goods there. Also, one of Aswan’s famous activities is the environmental therapy where you can bury your aching parts of your body in Aswan’s sand and witness the magical results.
This breath-taking city hosts thousands of travelers and tourists every year as it’s a favorite destination to many in Winter due to its slightly cold weather at night and warm weather during the day. Aswan is very hot at summer, with the presence of the scorching sun all day in the sky,the temperature can exceed 36 degrees, so make sure If you’re going to visit Aswan in Summer to bring your sunscreen and your hat as well.
Here are our top recommendations to visit in Aswan;
The temple of Isis as some people call it, it was built in Aswan city and considered to be one of the last remaining places where the ancient religion survived after the arrival of Christianity in Egypt, early Christians used it as a church.To reach the temple you have to ride a river taxi to the other bank, the temple has several shrines and sanctuaries such as Trojan & Kiosk of Pharaoh’s bed: Visit the temple at night to attend the sound and light show.
One of the largest embankment dams built across the Nile in Aswan between 1960 and 1970. Before it existed, there was annual flooding of the Nile during late summer and it has continued to pass on a wide scale without any obstacles all down the valley from its east African drainage basin. But of course, after the Dam was built, it protected Egypt from all of those floods and it became an important source of water storage for irrigation and generating hydroelectricity.
The floods that used to happen before the construction of the dam used to bring high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along the floodplain and delta, that’s why the Nile valley was ideal for farming since ancient times. It is said that if the dam burst it would wash most of Egypt into the miditerrean sea!
It’s creation was by Hatshepsut, built with the Red granite from Aswan and it is wasn’t finished simply because after the architect order to cut the obelisk from the granite mountain he found out that it is cracked from the center so they couldn’t finish it, but if it was finished it would have measure about 42 meters and would have weighed nearly 1090 tons, a weight equal to 200 African elephants!
They’re 2 massive twin rock temples at Abu simble, a village in Aswan. They are suited on the western bank of lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of Aswan, the complex is part of UNESCO world heritage site known as Nubian monuments.
There 2 temples, the great one was dedicated to King Ramses II as it was built in his era in about in the 13 century BC (19th dynasty) and the small one was dedicated to his wife Queen Nefertari. They serve as the lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari and commemorate his victory at the battle of Kaddish.
Abu simble temples were built in Nubia because it had massive importance to ancient Egypt as the land was filled with gold and other precious trade products so Egyptians were keen on making Nubia part of the country, that’s why they built there many temples to impress the Nubians and Egyptianize them.This tourist attraction is famous for a strange phenomenon which is; On February 22, the anniversary date of Ramses II accession to the throne and On October 22, the day of his birth. The sun illuminates the temple corridor and three of 4 sanctuaries every year! The three statues are for; The pharaoh Ramses II, Ra (god of the sun) and Amun (king of the gods). Now, you might be wondering who is the fourth statue??!
Well, let me tell you that it belongs to God Ptah, the god of darkness! That’s why for more than 3,200 years ago this statue had never seen the sunlight.
