High Dam, Philae, Nubian Village

Jasmine: Sitting on the terrace of the Old Cataract Hotel smelling the scent of jasmine as it becomes intense after the sun has set. I'm really lucky to be visiting Upper Egypt without the hoards of tourists which normally arrive during the high season. Nonetheless, it's painful to witness the painful political crisis and economic hardship Egyptians must endure as they forge their future power relations and identity. I'm in the Nile Tower to the right of the building shown in the picture. The gardens around the old building give off scents of amber in the evening.

Aswan High Dam: Near the High Dam (Sadd al-'Ali), constructed between 1960 and 1970, stands a monument to Arab-Soviet friendship in the form of the skyward-stretching, slender petals of a Lotus flower. The dam is an embankment dam situated across the Nile river in Aswan, Egypt. Construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the Egyptian government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. The British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898 with construction lasting until 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks. The height of this dam was raised two times. Before the High Dam was built, the Nile river overflowed its banks once a year and deposited four million tons of nutrient-rich silt on the valley floor, making Egypt's otherwise dry land productive and fertile. But there were some years when the river did not rise at all, causing widespread drought and famine. The Aswan High Dam captures the powerful Nile river in the world's third largest reservoir, Lake Nasser. The dam captures floodwater during rainy seasons and releases the water during times of drought and generates enormous amounts of electric power.

Philae: Philae in Greek or Pilak in ancient Egyptian, meaning "the end," defined the southern most limit of Egypt. It was begun by Ptolemy II and completed by the Roman Emperors. The Temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. The temple at Philae was nearly lost under water when the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s. Fortunately the temple was rescued by a joint operation between the Egyptian government and UNESCO. While formerly an island in the First cataract of the Nile river, Philae today is an island in Lake Nasser.

Nubian Village: To reach Soheil Island, the location of a Nubian village, I traveled by motorized boat through a protected area on the Nile. I saw white and gray herons, a falcon, ibis, and other birds. It's a fabulous environmentally protected space. I drank hibiscus tea in a traditional Nubian home after viewing two penned crocodiles in the courtyard. Crocodiles are kept out of the Nile from the Aswan Dam to the Mediterranean Sea by a net stretched in the waters behind the high dam. The ancient Egyptians deified the crocodile in the form of the god Sobek. Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt. In the 1970s, many Egyptian Nubians were forcibly resettled to make room for Lake Nasser after the construction of the dam at Aswan. My guide emphasized that Nubian has two principal dialects: Fiadicca and Kenzi. Efforts are being made to document Nubian languages using the Arabic alphabet. The name Nubia widely used to designate the people of Kush, who were Nilo-Saharan people who dominated Kush beginning in the third century AD. Since Nubia was a source of gold to the ancient Egyptians, some historians speculate that the term may have originated from the Egyptian word "nub" meaning "gold". A popular Nubian dish is wayka, a stew of ground beef, tomatoes and ground dried okra. It's often eaten scooped up in bread.

Decor of Old Cataract main restaurant.

Lake Nasser, one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

Lake Nasser. Egypt has always depended on the water of the Nile River. The two main tributaries of the Nile River are the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The source of the White Nile is Lake Victoria and the Blue Nile begins in Lake Tana in the Ethiopian Highlands. The two tributaries converge in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan where they form the Nile River.

View from the ground inside the Arab-Soviet Friendship monument near the High Dam. The top symbolizes a circle of friendship between Egypt and the Arab States and the former USSR.

The Temple of Isis on Philae Island. The complex was dismantled and relocated to nearby Agilkia Island during a UNESCO project started because of the construction of the Aswan Dam, after the site was partly flooded by the earlier Aswan Low Dam for half a century. First, a large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates filled with a million cubic meters of sand. Any water that seeped through was pumped away. Next the monuments were cleaned and measured. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units and transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia, situated on higher ground before being reconstructed on another expanded island, today called Philae. The original Philae island is underwater with only the shafts left from the coffer dam rising out of the water to indicate the original location of the temple.

Wonderful birds on boat trip to Philae Island.

Relief at Temple of Isis.

Capitals at Temple of Isis.

Temple of Isis, Philae.

Trajan's Kiosk of Philae.

The most ancient structures were the remains of a temple for Isis built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380-362 BC. For the most part, the other ruins date from Ptolemaic times.

Philae, being accounted one of the burying-places of Osiris, was held in high reverence both by the Egyptians to the north and the Nubians to the south. It was deemed profane for any but priests to dwell there and was accordingly sequestered.

Capital at Philae. The temple was begun by Ptolemy II and completed by the Roman Emperors.

Capital. The Temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus. These three characters dominate ancient Egyptian culture. The god Osiris is murdered and dismembered by his brother Seth. Isis searches for the fragments, collects them together and with her magic powers brings Osiris back to life. They then conceive the god Horus. Osiris becomes god of the underworld and judge of the dead - who must answer to him for their deeds on Earth. Meanwhile Isis gives birth to Horus and protects the young god. Later when Horus is grown he avenges his father by defeating Seth in combat.

Capital.

Isis is a very important figure in the ancient world. She is associated with funeral rites but as the enchantress who resurrected Osiris and gave birth to Horus she is also the giver of life, a healer and protector of kings. By the New Kingdom period, Isis began to be merged with Hathor as Isis-Hathor. By merging with Hathor, Isis became the mother of Horus, as well as his wife.

The inscription left by General Desaix at Philae is commemorating the victory of Napoleon's forces over the Mamlukes in 1799.

Inscription indicating that the monument was for a time used as a church.

Coptic cross at Philae.

Overseer at Philae.

With older Nubian woman.

Younger women wear a see-through dress called the gargar.

Nubian man beside commonly used water cooler.

Nubian oven.

Looking down on roofs of Nubian houses.

Roof-top tea room.

Nubian house.

The symbol representing his eye, Eye of Horus, was a powerful symbol used to protect from evil in ancient Egypt. According to the old myth, the rivalling god Seth tore Horus' eye out. Seth was his uncle, who contended with him for the Egyptian throne after he had killed and dismembered his father, Osiris. Thot, the wise moon god and the patron of the sciences and the art of writing, put it patiently back in order and healed it. As an ambiguous symbol, it describes the status of regained soundness.