Day 23 - Aswan

Day 23

Hatshepsut the “Drag King of Egypt” woke up one morning with an idea.  “I want someone to make me the biggest obelisk ever seen!”  So instructions were sent to the artisans and stone masons at Aswan.  

“Who sent this?” enquired the head mason (or “Grand Poobah” as he was known at the local Masonic Lodge).  “The Pharaoh!” responded his offsider.  “Which one? The little fella or Lola?” asked the Grand Poobah.  “Lola!?” enquired his offsider.  “L-O-L-A Lola!” sang the Grand Poobah.  “Hahaha, like it, like it”, laughed his offsider, before himself singing, “the dude looks like a lady!” and they both fell about laughing hysterically.  

So everyone at the granite quarry set to work, employing their best obelisk making techniques.  They prepared the surface of the granite they had chosen and marked out the shape easily enough.  Then they began creating the trenches around the obelisk without much hassle at all.  But, as they began the process of freeing the shape from the quarry floor, CRACK!!!

And that my friends is what we saw today, the unfinished obelisk.  Abandoned seconds after that fateful moment and untouched for the next 3500 years.  I couldn’t help but think how impressive it would’ve been if they hadn’t totally botched it.

From there we headed to the Marina of an artificial lake located on the River Nile between the Aswan Low Dam and the Aswan High Dam so we could visit the Philae Temple complex.

Unlike any of the other temples we have visited, the Philae Temple complex is located on an island that can only be reached by boat.  After a few minutes (spent hovering in the background as our guide Shenouda negotiated a price for the return crossing with one of the boatmen), we were on our way to the picturesque island of Agilkia.  

It may interest you to know that Agilkia Island wasn’t the original location of the Philae Temple complex.  The original location was another, lower-lying island, which (after the Aswan Low Dam was completed in 1902), was repeatedly hit by floods. During this time the only part of the temple complex visible to the naked eye were the tops of the columns of the Great Temple of Isis.  By 1960 the rising waters of Lake Nasser were so bad they threatened to permanently submerge even the tops of the columns, so the Egyptian Government teamed up with UNESCO to save every monument of the  Philae Temple complex hidden below the surface.  The construction of the new Aswan High Dam during the 1970’s enabled the entire complex to be painstakingly dismantled (into about 47,000 separate sections), and rebuilt successfully on higher ground (a few hundred metres away), at Agilkia Island.  

After a pleasant journey across the lake we arrived at the island for a sticky beak at all it had to offer, the most prominent thing being the Great Temple of Isis.  It is quite huge and boasts graffiti from not only his soldiers, but Napoleon himself.  

Apparently the little man in the big hat and the penchant for permanently scratching his left nipple with his right hand escaped to the Philae Temple complex with his troops after losing a battle during the Napoleonic Wars.  Other monuments around the complex include the kiosk of King Nectanebo I (which sold coffee, falafel and shawarma), the kiosk of Trajan (which was a little more upmarket and where you could sample the specialty of the house, Trajan’s signature Philae Mignon with roasted vegetables), the gate of Hadrian (which was nothing more than something he probably picked up at Bunnings), and other temples dedicated to Imhotep (the fella who first used stone blocks instead of mud brinks and designed the Step Pyramid), Augustus Caesar (first emperor of Rome), and Hathor.  

There is also another Nilometer here as well, in which is displayed an interesting cartouche explaining what the word Pharaoh means along with the last known use of hieroglyphics before the language died out and was replaced by Greek.  The whole place is really impressive and the views are just marvellous. 

From there we went to the Thutmose Essence Perfume Palace (basically a place that sells oil), where we vehemently swore to Shenouda that (even though we had absolutely no interest in coming here), we would just duck our heads in the door and then go. An hour and a half later we appeared with a lifetime supply of oil that I think I’ll need to leave to some poor sap in my Will.  Then we headed back to our boat wondering if we will need to pay an excess baggage fee when we check our luggage in tomorrow evening.

A few hours later Maria, Wim, Shenouda and I hopped on a traditional Egyptian Felucca and enjoyed a pleasant early evening, leisurely sailing up and down the Nile for an hour or so.  The perfect end to a wonderful day. 

Day 22 - Edfu and Kom Ombo

 Day 22

When I woke up this morning and looked out our cabin window, to my surprise I was not looking at the shore (as I expected), but into the cabin of another boat exactly like ours.  Apparently, if there is more than one boat docking, they all have to parallel park (horizontal to the dock), and pull up along side one another like rows of dominoes exactly aligned, so you can walk straight through the foyer of each vessel (if yours is not the one closest to the dock), to get to the gang plank and onto the shore.

So today was an early start as our boat had docked at Edfu along with about 20 others (each carrying around 100 passengers), and everyone was headed to the only tourist attraction in the vicinity, the Temple of Edfu.  

To get there and back we had to take a horse and buggy ride, and although I will admit the ride was comfortable, I couldn’t enjoy it (given the poor health and condition of most of the horses), and found the whole experience something I hope I never have to repeat again.

The Temple of Edfu is one of the best preserved shrines in Egypt and was built just over 2100 years ago.  Without sounding like a broken record it is made up of the usual columns, statues, shrines, corridors, carvings and false doors that have been present in all the temples we have visited so far.  The front entrance even looks a lot like the Temple of Luxor’s.  But it does have a few unique points of difference that are pretty cool, like the architectural floor plans being carved into it’s walls along with a full blown storyboard outlining the legendary conflict between the gods Seth and Horus. 

For those of you who don’t know, Seth was a god who killed his brother Osiris so he could inherit his throne.  However, Osiris’s young son Horus also had his sights set on his father’s throne, so together with his mother and Osiris’s widow (the goddess Isis), he sets about taking revenge on Seth.  Now Seth must’ve done his research, because he chose to turn into a Hippo (which according to David Attenborough is the animal most responsible for fatalities annually in Africa), in preparation for his battle against Horus and Isis.  His great plan was to hide in the river, wait for them to go for a swim, and then attack.  Unfortunately, they got wind of what he was up to, and hired a boat and some very, very long spears.  So the great conflict turned out to be nothing more than Horus and his mum enjoying a pleasant afternoon cruising the Nile hunting for the strange Hippo wearing goggles and Speedos. 

After we had thoroughly explored the place, we headed back to the boat and set sail for our next port of call, Kom ombo.

We cruised down the Nile for the next four hours and were in our cabin when Maria pointed through our port side window and said, “I think we’re here.”  As we came in to dock the Temple of Kom Ombo was clearly visible on the hill overlooking the river, and even though it was yet another temple, it looked pretty impressive.  

As with Edfu earlier today, our boat had arrived with about 20 others, (we were about the fourth domino parallel parked along side the other boats), so a very large scrum formed throughout each foyer as passengers fought their way to the gang plank to join another couple of thousand people (looking distinctly disheveled as if they’d gone 10 rounds with Iron Mike), swarming all over the Temple.  Luckily our guide Shenouda had the presence of mind to hold us back for a bit and give us an overview of what we were going to see.  Five minutes later we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through each foyer to the gang plank and onto the shore.

The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual building constructed about 2,100 years ago during the Ptolemaic dynasty with some later additions tacked on during the Roman occupation.  It is unique because it is divided into two separate temples (one dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, the other to the falcon god Haroeris), with everything on one side (columns, statues, shrines, corridors, carvings, halls, sanctuaries, rooms, and false doors) duplicated on the other.

The dual temples also host a few unique gems; the Egyptian calendar (still used by farmers today), a set of surgical instruments used by the healers in ancient times, and a Nilometer used for measuring the water level of the river Nile.  Then there is the Crocodile Museum which has on display a few of the three hundred crocodile mummies discovered in the area by archaeologists over the years.  Fascinating stuff.

Tonight we had a special Egyptian BBQ on the sundeck requiring everyone to wear a Galabeya.  So Maria and I frocked up while Wim played it cool (rejecting my suggestion to just wear his vestments), and together enjoyed a scrumptious dinner with all the other guests of whom most were similarly attired.