DAY 4 – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18: CAIRO, FLIGHT TO ASWAN, HIGH DAM, TEMPLE OF ISIS (PHILAE), GRANITE QUARY, FALUCA RIDE
It was an early start today, with breakfast at 5:30. We left the hotel in Cairo at 6:15 in order to catch our flight at 8 a.m. to Aswan, 600 miles south. The weather in Aswan was beautiful, with full sun, no “Cairo haze,” and temps around 80. We read from Genesis 50 as we started the day.
High Dam
We landed in the small Aswan airport around 9:40 a.m. We were greeted by our bus and driver. Once we loaded the bus, we drove to the High Dam of Aswan. This was completed in 1970 after a 10 year project. The dam is 12,000 feet long and 3,000 feet wide. On the south side, the dam creates Lake Nasser which extends 340 miles in length (the southern end of the lake is in Sudan). 14 ancient temples were covered by this lake. These sites (including the famous Abu Simbel Temple) have been reconstructed. The dam creates about 40% of Egypt’s electricity. Many Nubians live in Aswan today.
Philae/Tempe of Isis
From here we drove to the the Temple of Philae, also called Isis. We actually had to take a small boat to the site since it was locate on an island. The Temple dates to the Ptolemaic Period and later. We saw many hieroglyphics, pillars, pylons, and reliefs of the pharaohs and Egyptian gods. The temple has a “holy of holies” and an altar in the middle.
Granite Quarry
Following another boat ride to the other side of the Nile for a buffet lunch, we boated back to the eastern side to see the Granite Quarry of Aswan. This was where the obelisks were chiseled out of the granite. One unfinished stone intended to be an obelisk weights 1,168 tons! Today, 13 ancient obelisks still stand in Egypt. 13 stand in Italy. A total of 34 Egyptians obelisks stand all over the world.
“Today was our second full day here in Egypt. We flew 60 miles to the south to Aswan. We saw so many interesting things. The felucca ride on the Nile River was a great way to end another wonderful day!”
Felucca Ride
We ended the day with a delightful felucca ride. A Nubian man and his son operated this sailing boat with great skill. He even sang us a traditional song. Our final destination was the Movenpick Hotel where we checked in and enjoyed an incredible buffet dinner together! The hotel is located on Elephantine Island where there was once a Jewish presence most likely following Jews leaving Judah at the time of Manasseh. The Elephantine papyri was found here. This was a cache of legal documents and letters written in Aramaic dating to sometime in the 5th century BC.
DAY 5 – SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19: TEMPLES OF KOM OMBO (SOBEK) & EDFU, LUXOR TEMPLE AT NIGHT
