The third largest city in Egypt, Aswan has a population of 1.2 million and is located 179 Km from Luxor; it consists mainly of Nubians and local Kenzo tribes. The city derives its name from the ancient Egyptian word Swan, meaning "The Market". Today Aswan is known best for its spices, fragrances, fabrics, and herbs, in addition to the ancient monuments and Nubian art reflecting the blend of the Egyptian and Sudanese cultures. Every night the city's Cultural Center hosts Nubian performances. Aswan was the major source of granite, sandstone, and quartzite that was used to construct many temples and monuments throughout Egypt.

The Elephantine Island:

The island of Elephantine is the largest island in Aswan and one of the oldest sites in Egypt, dating back to the pre - dynastic period. The name Elephantine means elephant in Greek, and the island was known as Abu or Yabu, while it also means elephant probably because it was a key trading center for ivory, among other commodities.

Elephantine Island is easily accessible by felucca or motorboats and feature lavish gardens, numerous artifacts that are mostly in ruins, a Nubian village, and a Nilometer used to measure the level of water in the Nile.

The Kitchener's Island:

The island was given to Lord Kitchener as a reward for his services in the Sudan Campaign (1896-1898). With the aid of the Ministry of Irrigation, Kitchener rapidly transformed the small (approx. 750-meter-long) island into a paradise of exotic trees and plants and carefully planned walkways. It later passed into the property of the Egyptian government and was used as a research station for examining different food and cash crops. Today, a biological research station is present at the southern tip, which is closed to visitors.

Nowadays, the island as a whole constitutes a botanical garden. It is particularly popular among the local people and tourists as a spot for weekend picnics or for a quiet afternoon away from the noise of the city. It can be reached by felucca, motorboat or one of local ferries. Also you may view many types of exotic and rare greenery.

The High Dam:

The Aswan Dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt. Since the 1950s, the name commonly refers to the High Dam, which is larger and newer than the Aswan Low Dam, which was first completed in 1902. Construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the Egyptian Government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, as the ability to control the flood waters, and harness the hydroelectric power that it could produce, were seen as pivotal to Egypt's industrialization. The High Dam was constructed between 1960 and 1970. It aimed to increase economic production by further regulating the annual river flooding and providing storage of water for agriculture, and later, to generate hydroelectricity. The dam has had a significant impact on the economy and culture of Egypt.

Before the dams were built, the Nile River flooded each year during late summer, as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water and natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along the floodplain and delta; this made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. Because floods vary, in high-water years, the whole crop might be wiped out, while in low-water years widespread drought and famine occasionally occurred. As Egypt's population grew and conditions changed, both a desire and ability developed to control the floods, and thus both protect and support farmland and the economically important cotton crop. With the reservoir storage provided by these dams, the floods could be lessened, and the water could be stored for later release.

The Unfinished Obelisk:

The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt in Aswan. It is unknown which pharaoh created this structure. It is nearly one third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If finished it would have measured around 42 meters and would have weighed nearly 1,200 tons. Archeologists speculate that it was intended to complement the so-called Lateran Obelisk which was originally at Karnak and is now outside the Lateran Palace in Rome.

The obelisk's creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. Originally it was thought that the stone had an undetected flaw but it is also possible that the quarrying process allowed the cracking to develop by releasing the stress. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock. The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insights into ancient Egyptian stone-working techniques, with marks from workers' tools still clearly visible as well as ocher-colored lines marking where they were working.

The Temple of Philae:

The Temple of Philae is located on a small rocky island in the middle of the Nile, south of Aswan. A magnificent temple was built to the ancient Egyptians for the Goddess Isis, but was submerged by Nile floods when the first dam was built in Aswan in 1906. In the 1970s, with the completion of the High Dam of Aswan, attempts began to save to temple.

A new island, Egilika, was chosen and reshaped to resemble the island on which the temple resides. Over a period of nine years, the temple was dismantled, transferred, and assembled again on Egilika. The Temple of Philae was reopened to visitors in 1980.

The Sound & Light Show at the Philae Temple:

At each Philae Sound and Light show, the Egyptian gods and goddesses are, like Osiris, resurrected before our eyes to tell us their life stories. The myth of Isis and Osiris comes to life through dazzling lights and capturing music, with sounds from the deepest bottoms of ancient history. This show brings history and the past to life, making you feel the temple alive around you; the myth is resurrected. The presents the myth of Osiris, the goddess of death and his beloved wife Isis, who resurrected her husband using life rituals after being killed by his brother, Set, the God of Evil in ancient Egypt.

A large number of temples were constructed on the island of "Philae", perhaps the oldest of these temples is dating back to the reign of King Thutmose III (1490-1436 BC). In the fourth century BC, King "Nectanebo" (378-341 BC) built a giant temple, then "Ptolemy Veladlv", third century BC, built his great temple, and then followed by many of the Ptolemaic kings and Roman rulers; the most famous of it is the "bed of the Pharaoh."

Winter show schedule from October 01st to April 30th:

Summer show schedule from May 01st to September 30th:

The Temples of Abu Simbel:

Located near Egypt's southern border with Sudan, 280 Km south of Aswan, the Temples of Abu Simbel are amongst the most interesting of Pharaonic temples. There are two temple cut in the rock, dating back to King Ramses II. Because of the rising water levels of the Nile jeopardizing the temples, the UNESCO and several countries helped protect them by dismantling and reassembling them on a site higher than the original and further inland.

The facade of the first temple features four huge statues of Ramses II; each is 20 meters high and illustrates the king sitting on his throne wearing the double crown, with three small statues of his wives, daughters, and sons flanking his feet.

The Sound & Light Show at the Temples of Abu Simbel:

The Sound and Light show at Abu Simbel will convey you to the time of the pharaohs. Enchanting you with melodious music, and bringing the ancient world to life around you, the show includes projections into the temples showing how they once looked. The program is presented in a number of languages with the provision of ear pieces. It is an experience not to be missed, one that will make your visit to Abu Simbel the memory of a lifetime.

Show schedule throughout the year:

Lake Nasser:

Construction of the High Dam was one of the chief priorities of the revolutionary government in Egypt after the overthrow of the King Farouk in 1952. Under Egypt's first president, Muhammad Naguib, planning was initiated for constructing a new dam at Aswan that would both guarantee Egypt's water security, and assist in the industrialization of the country by providing a source of hydro-electric power. Planning was continued under his successor as President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, under whose tenure the withdrawal of funding from the project by the governments of the United States, and the United Kingdom contributed to Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal, and the subsequent Tripartite Aggression.

Nasser died in 1970, and upon completion of the Dam during the presidency of Nasser's successor, Anwar El-Sadat, the resulting lake was named in Nasser's honor.

When Lake Nasser was being created as a result of the construction of the Aswan High Dam, across the Nile, between 1958 and 1970, the anticipated rising waters behind the dam required major relocation projects that were carried out during the 1960s. There were 18 ancient temples in the area.

Several important Nubian and Ancient Egyptian archaeological sites were dismantled block by block and moved to higher ground, most notably Abu Simbel. The prior Sudanese river-port and railway terminal of Wadi Halfa was lost beneath the waters, and a new town was built nearby; and Egypt's entire Nubian community from the upper reaches of the Nile – numbering several hundred thousand people – saw their villages disappear and were forced to relocate.

The vast reservoir in southern Egypt is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world. Strictly, "Lake Nasser" refers only to the much larger portion of the lake that is in Egyptian territory (83% of the total), with the Sudanese preferring to call their smaller body of water Lake Nubia. The lake is  550 Km long and 35 Km across at its widest point, which is near the Tropic of Cancer. It covers a total surface area of 5,250 km² and has a storage capacity of some 157 km³ of water.

The Temple of Kalabsha:

The Temple of Kalabsha (also known as Temple of Mandulis) is an Ancient Egyptian temple that was originally located at Bab al-Kalabsha (Gate of Kalabsha), approximately 50 Km south of Aswan. The temple was situated on the west bank of the Nile River, in Nubia, and was originally built around 30 BC during the early Roman era. While the temple was constructed in Augustus's reign, it was never finished. The temple was a tribute to Mandulis (Merul), a Lower Nubian sun god. It was constructed over an earlier sanctuary of Amenhotep II. The temple is 76 meters long and 22 meters wide in dimension. While the structure dates to the Roman period, it features many fine reliefs such as a fine carving of Horus emerging from reeds on the inner curtain wall  of the temple. From Kalabsha's sanctuary chambers, a staircase leads up to the roof of the temple where one can see a splendid view of the temple itself and the sacred lake. Several historical records were inscribed on the temple walls of Kalabsha such as "a long inscription carved by the Roman Governor Aurelius Besarion in AD 250, forbidding pigs in the temple" as well as an inscription of the Nubian king Silko, carved during the 5th century and recording his victory over the Blemmyes and a picture of him dressed as a Roman soldier on horseback.  Silko was the Christian king of the Nubian kingdom of Nobatia. When Christianity was introduced to Egypt, the temple was used as a church.

With help from Germany, the temple of Kalabsha was relocated after the Aswan High Dam was built, to protect it from rising waters on Lake Nasser. The temple was moved to a site, located just south of the Aswan High Dam. The process of moving the temple took more than two years. The temple of Kalabsha was the largest free-standing temple of Egyptian Nubia (after Abu Simbel) to be moved and erected at a new site. Its design was standard for the Ptolemaic period with pylons, courtyard, hypostyle hall and three room sanctuaries. Although the building was never completed, it  is regarded as one of the best examples of Egyptian architecture in Nubia.

Temple of Beit El Wali:

The Temple of Beit el-Wali is a rock-cut Ancient Egyptian temple in Nubia which was built by Pharaoh Ramesses II and dedicated to the deities of Amun-Re, Re-Horakhti, Khnum and Anuket. It was the first in a series of temples built by Ramses II in this region; its name Beit el-Wali means 'House of the Holy Man' and may indicate its previous use as by a Christian hermit at some point in time. The temple was relocated during the 1960s as a result of the Aswan High Dam project and moved towards higher ground along with the Temple of Kalabsha. This move was coordinated with a team of Polish archaeologists financed jointly by a Swiss and Chicago Institute respectively. The temple was located 50 Km south of Aswan.

There is a large amount of original color remaining in the inner part of this temple though sadly the paint has disappeared from the more interesting historical scenes on its forecourt. The temple of Beit el-Wali is small, and was built on a symmetrical level. It is made up of a forecourt, an anteroom with two columns and a sanctuary cut into the surrounding rock, with the exception of the entrance and the doorway. The temple was fronted by a pylon.

El Seboua Temple:

The temple at El Seboua (Sabua or Saboua) in Egyptian Nubia was built on order of Pharaoh Ramses II to honor two gods: Amon Ra and Ra Harmakis (Re-Horakhty). Seboua means the Lion's Wady, so-called from the two lines of sphinxes with the bodies of lions, which stand before the Ramses temple.

The Seboua Temple built by Ramses II was relocated to avoid the rising waters from the Aswan high dam and now is a favorite with tourists. There was a second temple at Seboua, an older building built during the reign of Pharaoh Amenophis III and dedicated to the Nubian Horus and later to Amun. The Amenophis temple was not rescued and now is at the bottom of Lake Nasser.

The Temple of Dakka:

Ad-Dakka was a place in lower Nubia, which was located approximately 100 km south of  Aswan. The Greco-Roman Temple of Dakka, dedicated to Thoth, the god of wisdom, was initially a small one room shrine or chapel that first begun in the 3rd century B.C. by a Meroitic king named Arkamani (or Ergamenes II) in collaboration with Ptolemy IV who added an antechamber and a gate structure. Ptolemy IX  subsequently enlarged the temple by adding a pranaos with two rows of probably three columns. During the Roman period, the Emperors Augustus and Tiberius further enlarged the structure with the addition, at the rear, of a second sanctuary as well as inner and outer enclosure walls with a large pylon. The sanctuary contained a granite naos. The Temple of Dakka was transformed into a temple fortress by the Romans and surrounded by a 270 X 444 meter long stone wall with an entrance along the Nile.

A large dromos leads to the pylon which formed the entrance to the temple and each of the pylon's towers are decorated in high relief and bear numerous graffiti from visitors, mostly in Greek but some in Demotic and Meroitic script. Inside the gateway, the Meroitic king Arqamani is shown on the left scarifying to Thoth, with Tefnut and Hathor above and Isis below. There are reliefs of cows offered as gifts to the god Thoth carved into the naos of the Temple of Dakka.  While the temple of Dakka was similar architecturally to the temple of Wadi es-Sebua, it lacked a front courtyard of sphinxes; however, its 12 meter high pylon is in near perfect condition.  A 55 meter long processional approach ran from the temple's pylon to a cult terrace at the Nile. During the Christian period of Egypt, the facade of the pranaos was converted for use into a church and Christian paintings were still visible here in the 20th century before the temple was enveloped by the Nile floods.

The temple of Dakka collapsed in 1908-1909 and was subsequently rebuilt by Alessandro Barsanti. With the construction of the Aswan dam in the 1960s, the temple was dismantled and moved to the site of Wadi es-Sebua some 40 Km upstream between 1962 and 1968. At the time of its removal, some reused stone blocks from Thutmose III, Seti I and Merneptah were discovered which originated from an earlier New Kingdom structure in or near Kubban.  Today, the Temple of Dakka sits dramatically on a small bluff and is the only Nubian temple with a facade that faces to the north and enjoys a north-south orientation to parallel the course of the Nile. The temple's pylon is now separated from the remainder of the temple due to the missing enclosure walls of the open court.

The Temple of Al Maharraqa:

Al Maharraqa is a place in lower Nubia, which was approximately 120 Km south of Aswan on the southern border of the Roman empire.  Only a few years after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 30 B.C., the Kushites from the kingdom of Meroë launched a raid on the First cataract region of Egypt in 23 B.C. The Roman prefect of Egypt, Petronius, retaliated and defeated the invading Meroitic army. He then proceeded to station a Roman garrison of 400 troops at the southern outpost of Qasr Ibrim. After some negotiations, a permanent frontier between Meroë and Roman Egypt was established at Maharraqa. Thus, Maharraqa formed the extreme southern frontier of Roman Egypt.

The Temple of Maharraqa was originally situated here before it was subsequently relocated in the mid-1960s due to the Aswan Dam project. It was dedicated to the Egyptian gods Isis and Serapis. This Roman-built Egyptian temple cannot be securely attributed to any Roman emperor's reign since it was never fully completed nor inscribed. However, since it is known that temple building declined in Nubia after the rule of Augustus, the temple of Maharraqa might be datable to his reign. The only part of the structure that was finished "was a court measuring 13.56 X 15.69 m, which was surrounded on three sides by columns."  The actual temple premises containing the sanctuary was never actually built. The temple, as well, lacks a formal pylon.

The Temple of Maharraqa features an architectural curiosity with a winding spiral staircase at a corner of the court, which led to its roof. This is the only Egyptian temple in Nubia with a spiral staircase.

Since its former location was threatened by flooding from the Nile due to the construction of the Aswan dam, this small temple was dismantled in 1961 by the Egyptian Antiquities Service.  It was subsequently rebuilt along with the Temple of Dakka in 1966 at the New Wadi es-Sebua site which lies only 4 Km west of the original Wadi es-Sebua location.

The Temple of Amada:

The Temple of Amada, the oldest Egyptian temple in Nubia, was first constructed by pharaoh Thutmose III of the 18th dynasty and dedicated to Amun and Re-Horakhty. His son and successor, Amenhotep II continued the decoration program for this structure. Amenhotep II's successor, Thutmose IV decided to place a roof over its forecourt and transform it into a pillared or hypostyle hall. During the Amarna period, Akhenaten had the name Amun destroyed throughout the temple but this was later restored by Seti I of Egypt's 19th dynasty. Various 19th dynasty kings especially Seti I and Ramesses II also carried out minor restorations and added to the temple's decoration. The stelas of the Viceroys of Kush Setau, Heqanakht and Messuy and that of Chancellor Bay describe their building activities under Ramses II, Merneptah and Siptah respectively.

The original building plan for the structure featured a pylon, forecourt and a portico which led to a sanctuary. However, when Thutmose IV roofed the open forecourt, the pillars and walls  were decorated with offering scenes, with those involving Thutmosis IV on the left and Thutmose III and Amenhotep II on the right. Although the temple has a dull and crumbling exterior, its interior features enjoy some of the most finely cut reliefs with bright and vibrant colors.

The finest painted reliefs are in the innermost section of the temple where Thutmose III and Amenhotep II are shown being embraced or making offerings to various Egyptian gods. The left hand side of the vestibule shows Amenhotep II being crowned by Horus and Thoth and running with an oar and a hap (or navigational instrument). The cult room at the side of the sanctuary contains some interesting foundation and consecration scenes for the temple which depict  the ritual of the 'stretching of the cord', the ceremonial making and laying of bricks, and the offering of the temple to its gods.

Between 1964 and 1975, the temple was moved from its original location to a new site some 65 meters higher and 2.5 Km away from its original site to prevent it from being inundated by Lake Nasser due to the Aswan High Dam project. The rock-cut Temple of Derr also was also moved to the new site of Amada.

Kasr Ibrim:

Kasr Ibrim is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia. It was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site in lower Nubia to have survived the Nile floods. Both prior to and after the Nile floods, it has remained a major site for archaeological investigations.

Human habitation at the site dates from the Late Kingdom, but it reached its greatest prominence in the Middle Ages, when the area was the home of the Eparch of Nobatia. Qasr Ibrim is the source of the largest collection of Old Nubian documents ever found, including the records of the Eparch. The site was inhabited until the 1840s. Today the island is closed to all but archaeologists.

This important site derives its name from the nearby village of Ibrim, on the east bank of the Nile. Wasr Ibrim is also notable for its fortress of Qasr Ibrim "The Castle of Ibrim", which certainly stood on older pharaonic foundations.  Partly built in Roman times under the prefecture of Gaius Petronius during Augustus' reign, it was originally a pharaonic site with material from the New Kingdom and later periods of Egyptian history being found here. This is established by reused and isolated monuments from this older period: the earliest record is a dated Year 8 stela of Amenhotep I while a temple structure of Taharqa (with a painting showing the king offering to a god) is also known here. The stela was found in a now ruined Christian Byzantine cathedral now at Qasr Ibrim where it had been reused in one of the church's crypts and is now located in the British Museum. In the west slope of the fortress hill, there existed several rock-cut memorial chapels dedicated by various Viceroys of Kush to New Kingdom rulers and various deities. During the salvage operations carried out when the Aswan dam was being constructed, their reliefs were cut away and removed to the vicinity of New Wadi es-Sebua. A large rock stela of Seti I with his serving viceroy of Kush Amenemope which used to be [located] south Of the fortress of Qasr Ibrim were transferred to the neighborhood of New Kalabsha at Aswan.