An Incredibly Beautiful Day in Aswan!

 

Wow!  Truly a beautiful day.  First off, it’s got to be 85 degrees if it’s anything – with a lovely, light breeze in the air.  Especially lovely being out on the water, which we were.  So!  To start … the plumber/handyman came and fixed the leak in the upstairs bathroom.  Success!  Also turned on the hot water tap to the sink, which apparently had been turned off for some reason (leak possibly?) … which might explain why I couldn’t find any hot water last night to wash my face!  

 

We were headed out for Abu, the ruins on the other end of Elephantine Island, when we stopped to tell Mohammed, my new best friend, that the leak had been fixed.  This morning after breakfast, R headed back to the room and I drifted to the “other” side of the resort to take a look.  It was transfixing…don’t know if that’s even a word, but the difference between the two sides was like night and day!  On “our” side we have a view of the river, cruise boats (sometimes 3 abreast!), lots of traffic and buildings.  On the “other” side it was peaceful and serene, and over looks Kitchener’s Island and the Aswan Botanic Garden.  Truly wonderful!   So, I just wondered, if our room wasn’t able to be repaired, if we could possibly relocate to the other side of the hotel.  And we could!  I can re-pack REALLY fast when there is a need, and within 10 minutes I think, we were now across the hall in room 116 – and it’s terrific!  SOOOOO nice!  I know the layout of the room is basically the same, but what a difference a nice view and a working sink can make!  Yeah!!

 

Voila!  116!  Peaceful and serene--as it can be with me in it...

Aswan's "infamous" Tower

They have a small deer park here; beautiful animals!

So … back to Abu.  First of all, Elephantine Island has been continuously occupied since the beginning of the 1^st dynasty (about 3000 BC).  The Egyptians built a fortress there to establish Egypt’s southern frontier, with Nubia and Sudan to the south.  It also soon became an important customs point and trading center.  It remained strategically significant throughout the Pharaonic period as a departure point for the military and commercial expeditions into Nubia and points further south.  And, despite occasional ups and downs, the island retained its importance until the Graeco-Roman period.  

 

Besides customs and trading, Elephantine Island was the main cult center of the ram-headed god Khnum (at first, the god of the inundation, and from the 18^th dynasty, worshipped as the creator of humankind.).  It is so important to remember that Egypt existed – and does to this day – because of the Nile River.  Basically, the country can be divided into the “black” Nile … and sand.  Black being the area that was able to be cultivated.  And truly, it doesn’t stretch all that far on either side of the river itself.  It gets its water from summer monsoons coming down from Ethiopia – in huge amounts – at least it used to, before the Aswan Low and High Dams were built to control it.   The inundation, as it’s called, was so incredibly important to Egypt; it would basically be an excellent predictor as to whether the country would have a great year – high waters enabling lots to grow and everyone to get enough to eat, or famine, which was a yearly possibility.  In this manner, and at this point, the Aswan Nilometer was created so that there could be an “official” understanding of how much water was coming down.  High water was a great sign.  And further, as Aswan’s Elephantine Island was the official measuring place, there was, of course a huge temple built to the god Khnum, as well as smaller temples to his wife, Satet, who was guardian of the southern frontier.  Over time, religious complexes took over more and more of the island, until the 4^th century AD, when Christianity was established as the imperial Roman religion, at which point the ancient gods were gradually abandoned.  We were going to explore these ruins.

The "Aruba"

Row of felucca's at Nubian village

Loved the Nubian house with blue doors and windows!

Huge black granite boulders in the river

Beautiful Old Cataract Hotel, where we stayed last time; still looks lovely!

 

Cobra intertwined with a Lotus flower

Can you believe these were painted c. 3000 bc?

Temple of Satet, wife of Khnum

Turns out that the hotels that front the river have groups of boatmen who routinely “patrol” the waters looking for interested tourists.  We found the boat incongruously named Aruba to take us there.  Our driver had a difficult time getting the ancient outboard motor started, so we weren’t sure if we were really going to make it or not, but after a few good tries, it finally started and we were on the river.  Beautiful, hot and sunny – gorgeous breeze!  It took about 15 minutes to get us to the Nubian village of Koti and the steps up (of course!) to the ruins.  The wonderful thing about Abu is that very few other people even know what it is, so we had to share the place with, I think, three other tourists.  I do hate crowds, don’t you?!  Had a lovely late morning touring the site, with the piece de resistance being the Nilometer of the Temple of Khnum.  Built in the 26^th dynasty, it has stone stairs leading down to a small basin for measuring the Nile’s maximum level.  Seeing the various marks on the walls all the way down – Pharaonic, Roman and then Egyptian, was fascinating.    Here in Aswan, the inundation was known to get as high as 45 feet, which R assures me is the height of a 4-5 story building!  Now that’s an inundation!

Temple of Satet

Lots of Roman Pink Granite around

View from the lookout

 

Entry pillar of Khnum

Second entry pillar of Khnum portal

Lintel of the main entryway into Temple of Khnum

Ptolomyic on white; Egyptian marks on left

More Egyptian marks of the inundation

And then I reached the Nile!

I have to admit that it was wonderful to be on top of the ruins and think about Ramses II (he who created Abu Simbel so that EVERYONE coming from the south would know who was in charge) planning his wonderful monuments and seeing them executed.  Incredible!  I think that’s the kind of thing that gets me most excited about archaeology!  And I do get excited about archaeology!  

 

After the Nilometer, we decided that we had had enough, and headed back to the hotel.  We were SOOOOO hot and sweaty – and folks, confession time…I forgot to bring my HAT.  I know:  HOW COULD YOU FORGOT TO BRING YOUR HAT?!  Well, I did … and believe me, we now need to get me another one, as it was roasting out there today, and I’m sure tomorrow won’t be any different!  At the hotel, we found a very cozy (and smoke free) bar and had wonderful glasses of ice cold sparkling water, along with glasses of Egyptian white wine.  (Truly, 23 years has made a tremendous difference in the wine industry of Egypt!).  A very, very nice respite, to be sure.  Then, back to the room for a rest, and now up and blogging.  I want to take the boat across into Aswan this later afternoon to see if I CAN find a hat!  Wish me luck!!!

 

Occasionally, wine does help!

Beautiful gardens on the grounds of the hotel

Busy river afternoon!

Me in my new hat!!

Lots of love,

m

xxx

 

NOTE:  Once again, R is spared the awful ordeal of going into Aswan from his cozy, quiet retreat on Elephantine Island!  There are several shops in the hotel, and one of them (of course…you can see this coming…) had hats!  And there’s even one I like!  I have never been a great hat person – as my best-friend Jay says, you need to have attitude to wear hats.  (She once, in Paris, set me straight on how to wear a French beret.). Well, I don’t have it or they or whatever it takes so I usually don’t try.  However, found a hat that fits, R likes and will suit the purpose – and all for only $11.72!  (350 Egyptian pounds).  What a deal!!  Back in to finish the blog before dinner here at the Panorama Restaurant on top of the tower at 6:30 pm!

 

m

xxx

 

Note 2:  Of course, a migraine hit shortly after we got back from hat buying.  SO glad we weren’t in town, as the sights and certainly the sounds would be wayyyyyy too much for me.  As it was, I was able to get to my medication and added a couple of Advil to that, and was able to fall asleep for a bit.  That helped tremendously.  So, while the head seems to be relatively under control, the lack of dexterity (always a problem) and general synapse lapses that occur as an after affect, are definitely here.  Able to get to dinner, though, which brings me to –

 

R's red tuna with potato slices

My wild mushroom soup with white asparagas and truffle oil

Loved the candle on our table!

Amazing chicken on mashed potatoes with veggies

Note 3:  Dinner at the Panorama Restaurant was fabulous!  So glad that I could actually enjoy it!  Strangely enough, it’s on the 13^th floor of the tower – the top!  We had a front-row seat against the glass.  Beautiful restaurant, and, as we were to discover, truly fabulous food!  For starters, R ordered their red tuna tartare, which came with slices of boiled potato.  I had their “White & Wild” – wild mushroom soup with white asparagus and truffle oil.  (I’d probably eat just about anything if it had truffle oil on it…). Then for mains, we both ordered their chicken breast; again, wow!  It came beautifully presented on a bed of mashed potatoes with perfectly cooked vegetables.  We also had two glasses of Egyptian Marquise white wine.  It was a chardonnay that was excellent!  Also left absolutely no room for dessert, although I did cast an eye over the offerings.  (I haven’t had much if any chocolate lately, and I’m wondering if the fact that I snuck in a Snickers bar this afternoon might have had something to do with the migraine.  Will keep an eye on that!)