A day in Aswan

We arrive by 10 am by train and I'm feeling a bit haggard from time in the sleeper car. I'm grateful to head to our boat and after finally being checked in, having the opportunity to have a shower and some time simply sitting in the sun.....yes finally HOT sun!

By 1 o'clock though we are off to visit the sites of Aswan, a city that became famous in ancient times because it was the site of many gold mines and huge granite quarries. We begin by visiting the site of the unfinished obelisk. These massive pieces of granite where typically carved/hewn from the quarry into a tall rectangular shape with a triangle on the top, about 40-50 meters in length. These were then transported to the burial sites of Pharaohs and royalty. What we see today is an example of one not finished. As well, an earthquake in subsequent years has rendered it unmovable . It is equally unimaginable that these could be created and moved with the equipment of the time.

From here we tour the two dams on the Nile river. Because of the source of water for the Nile and the seasonal floods, it was decided that it would be in the best interest of an emerging modern society to have a dependable flow of water on the Nile year long. These dams also bring with them the capacity to create power for the entire country plus a bit extra to export. We learn about the political allies that were also created in this making of these dams. However, with these dams also came to the need to relocate entire villages and people's and some ancient sites were also submerged. The benefit to these villages was a consistent source of water for their crops and their daily living.

From here we go to the Philae temple which was submerged with the flooding. UNESCO worked with locals to restore and move this temple over a ten year period of time. The temple itself is also incredible in its intricacy of hieroglyphics the inscriptions which when the temple was. Use would have been in full color as well. It's hard to describe the energy, the size, the complexity . Our guide has so much history and knowledge of the various stories that after an hour my head is full and on overload. We return to the boat where we will begin our descent down the river Nile by early morning.

It is increasingly interesting to me the ways in which early religion's development of mythology always tackled the issues of afterlife first AND how ones succession was depended on how kind/generous ones heart was in this life.