© Richard Randall

ELEPHANTINE ISLAND

There was a group of huge black rocks which look like a herd of elephants bathing in the water, at the southern end of Elephantine Island, hence it's name. There were Nubian villages nestling in amongst the palms some decorated with Hadj scenes, whilst we were walking round there we got chatting to a Nubian who lived there. He invited us into his home, making us very welcome, and serving us delicious mint tea. There is a luxury hotel, Aswan Oberoi which is reached by it's own private ferry, and secluded from prying eyes by an enormous high fence. The main sites of interest to tourists were at the Southern end of the island which was were we headed.

THE ASWAN MUSEUM

The Aswan Museum was small, especially after the amazing museum in Cairo, but we managed to spend a good while in there looking round. The ground floor was the most interesting, we saw a gold bust of Khnum and a mummified ram which was his sacred animal and its gilded sarcophagus. There was a black granite statue of Governor Ameni, and lots of smaller pieces such as pots and jewellery. Originally the museum was a private villa belonging to Sir William Willcocks, designer of the first Aswan Dam.

As in Cairo (Roda Island) there was a Nilometer in Aswan, and many other sites of interest. There was the Island of Plants (Geziret an-Nabatat), also known as Kitchener's Island which was presented to the Consul General Kitchener in gratitude for his military exploits in the Sudan. It was here that Kitchener let his passion for exotic flora run wild, resulting in the most beautiful botanical garden complete with brightly coloured birds. This island was reached by felucca and well worth the trip. Other sites of interest included The Ruins of Yebu, and on the West Bank of the river The Aga Khan's Mausoleum, and The Monastery of Saint Simeon, and The Tombs of the Nobles.

THE TOMBS OF THE NOBLES

Situated on the west bank, we visited the Tombs of the Nobles which were absolutely amazing. The detail and quality of the artwork was fantastic, the paintings were so fresh looking as though painted very recently. We bought a photo permit which was well worth doing as we have some good pictures of the colourful artwork. All of the tombs are at different levels, Old and Middle Kingdom ones being the uppermost, and the Roman tombs are situated nearer the waterline. The tombs were numbered and walking up the path from where we purchased out tickets took us to the highest numbered tombs first. Although we had tickets we were asked for baksheesh for every tomb we entered, well you can't blame them for trying! We spent a good while looking round at the Tomb of Sirenput I - #36, Tombs of Pepi-Nakht - #35 and Harkhuf - #?, Tombs of Sirenput II - #31, and the Tomb of Mekhu - #25 and Sabni - #26. The sun felt particularly warm that day, and after all the walking we had managed to drink several large bottles of water. We were very happy once we got back to town where we enjoyed a few ice cold beers, they sure hit the spot.

THE UNFINISHED OBELISK

One of the last sites we visited before we left Aswan was the Unfinished Obelisk. As the name suggests it was an Obelisk that had not been finished, due to a flaw being discovered in the stone when it was almost completed and cut free from the bedrock. I can't imagine how frustrating the people who were working on this huge section of stone must have felt after all their hard work, so near to completion then having to abandon it. I'm not sure if it was because the massive peice of stone was on its side in the ground, and you could walk all along it resembling ants, but it was absolutely massive. Apparently had the Obelisk been completed it would have stood almost 42 metres high and weighed around 1168 tons, so I guess that is pretty impressive. On completion the Obelisk was apparently to have been a partner for the Lateran Obelisk in Rome which originally stood before the temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak, and is said to be the largest Obelisk in the world.

We wanted to travel by boat from Aswan to Luxor, stopping off for a few hours at both Kom Ombo and Edfu on the way. There were literally dozens of cruise boats sitting along the Nile. We didn't want to book the boat trip through an agent because we thought that we would get a much better deal if we dealt directly with the crew. So one evening we walked down to the water, and then one by one went aboard every boat asking where they were going next and when. We told them we would like to look at the cabins, and last but not least how much they would charge us. Although from the outside all of the boats were much the same the interiors were very different, from quite basic to very oppulent like floating palaces. Because some of the boats had to moor along side each other it was quite tiring having to climb over from one to the other, and we were very pleased when we finally found a boat that was leaving when we wished to depart, all we had to do now was to strike a good deal. After a little negotiation we were booked up for the following day, excellent. I think we had booked a two or three night cruise, as we were not in a hurry to get to Luxor. We were looking forward to a nice trip along the Nile, being wined and dined in style. Our cabin was very spacious and fully equipped, the boat had a large deck area with lots of seating and a swimming pool, and the restaurant looked nice. I don't think the cruise was full, there were quite a few other passengers who were already half way through their trip when we arrived onboard. There was a good mixture of nationalities, no other English people though. There were lots of Italian people who as usual all looked and smelt so clean and gorgeous, not like us two we were a bit dusty and beginning to show signs of wear and tear from our Egyptian travels! As we set sail for Luxor we settled down to some serious relaxing on deck, drinking, playing cards and enjoying the views. One day whilst realxing on the top deck we were pelted with empty film cannisters, they were thrown aboard from the waters edge by children asking us to put money in and then throw back to them, quite ingenious, those were the days before digital cameras were the norm! The days passed quickly with stops at Kom Ombo and Edfu.

KOM OMBO ~ THE TEMPLE OF HAROERIS AND SOBEK

Kom Ombo is about 30 km down the river from Aswan, and home to a large number of Nubians who settled there after being displaced by the creation of Lake Nasser. This was a pleasant place for a short stop during our Nile cruise. The main attraction in Kom Ombo is the Ptolemaic Temple of Haroeris and Sobek a few km from the centre of town. As we approached the temple we were greeted by the twin entrances, the inside was split down the middle. The left side dedicated to the falcon headed Haroeris the 'Good Doctor' and his consort Ta-Sent-Nefer the 'Good Sister'. The right side had Sobek the crocodile god, his wife, and their son Khonsu-Hor. Inside we walked round the outer Hypostyle Halls, and the inner Hypostyle Hall where we saw reliefs of Neos Dionysos being purified by Thoth and Horus, and the painted images of Neos Dionysos's coronation before Haroeris, Sobek, Wadjet and Nekhbet. There was a relief of Sobek in his reptilian form, and wonderful reliefs showing Ptolemy VII receiving the sword of victory ~ hps, from Haroeris accompanied by his sister Cleopatra and his wife. The detail on every surface there was amazing, everything looked so fresh and new, untouched by time. It wasn't really that busy at the time we visited which made walking round even more pleasurable.

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