This Is Our First View of the Nile from Our Hotel Room in Aswan. Our Travels Were Fotrunate

5/14 Aswan

This is our first view of the Nile from our hotel room in Aswan. Our travels were fotrunate today, as the weather was cool and breezy. This was considered unusual for this time of year.

Our first excursion took us on a boat ride to the Island of the Philae. Here there are 3 influences seen in the temple, Ancient Egyptian, Roman, and Greek. Both sections of the Greek and Roman architecture closely resemble that of the Ancient Egyptian. The leaders at that time wanted the blessings of the Egyptians so they didn't make any drastic changes in style. Seen here are Greek influenced pillars that combine the Ancient Egyptians use of the papyrus, lotus, and other flowers.

Still at Philae Temple, we can see on the left side the damage caused to the carvings by the Coptic Christians. They used this temple as a church and because they did not believe in multiple gods they destroyed these carvings. There are three speculations why the Copts only destroyed the left side.
1. Sand was covering the right side, and they didn't know it existed.
2. They were afraid of the Pharaonic curses.
3. The heart is on the left side of the body, and therefore it is the most important side.
If you look closely at this picture you can see how the left side is destroyed by looking at the details of the carvings.

Our second boat ride of the day takes us past the Elephantine Island, to the Botanical Gardens Island of Aswan. The Island is approximately 17 acres and completely covered with vegetation not native to Egypt.

Here is a view of one of the main paths through the Botanical Gardens. This garden is full of many different tropical plants that have been brought to Egypt as gifts from other countries. It was a quiet and beautiful escape from the hustle of our day.

We also went to the Aswan High Dam, which is the major source of power for Egypt and some of the surrounding countries. The Dam was begun under President Nasser in the 1960s and was opened in 1980. The Dam was built at one of the narrowest points on the Nile so that there could be more control of the water for the Hydroelectric station. Behind the Dam is one of the largest artificial lakes, Lake Nasser, which is larger than Holland.

Lake Nasser

May Seminar, 2001 -- Math 300