Egypt 2022: The Old Cataract

In a few hours we'll be flying back to Cairo, but there's one last thing we want to do in Aswan and we have just about enough time to do it.

The Cataract Hotel was a ritzy hotel built in 1899, and it is said that Agatha Christie was staying here while writing "Death on the Nile". Actually, the hotel appears in the classic film version of that story.

And it happens to be some 5 min away from where our cruise ship is moored. So who could resist the call to spend our last hour in Aswan in the most decadent way, having a cocktail and breathing colonial atmosphere?

Then, it is time to fly back to Cairo, and to check back into the Sheraton. And even though it is a bit late, it is never too late to enjoy some Teppanyaki dinner!

Egypt 2022: The unfinished obelisk and Philae

It is our last breakfast onboard, we have our luggage packed and after today's visits we'll fly back to Cairo. 

Meanwhile, we head to the Northern Quarry, where an unfinished obelisk lies, showing how the ancient Egyptians manage to cut such huge pieces of stone. This obelisk, if it was not left here unfinished when a flaw was detected, measures 42 m and would have weighed over 1000 tons. 

We can see the different techniques used, from hard stones to polish the granite, to the marks where wedges were introduced to fracture a block from the quarry. Abandoned there is also the lid for an Apis sarcophagus.

After the visit to the quarry, we take a boat to Philae (actually Agilika Island), to visit the Temple of Isis.

This temple was submerged when the old Aswan Dam was built, and it remained so for 80 years. then, in 1974-82 it was transported and rebuilt on it's present location, Agilika Island. 

According to tradition, the Temple of Isis was supposed to be on an island, with the shape of a tear, and on sight of the temple of Osiris in the next island. To do that, the island where the temple was rebuilt needed to be modified and its surface extended. 

The Isis Temple was the last one in service after the arrival of Christianism in Egypt and its adoption by the Roman Empire in 394. It was not until the c.VI that Justinian, forces the temple to close by taking the priests away. Nevertheless, the cult of Isis was very popular all over the Mediterranean, and we can find Iseions in numerous locations, even in Britain. 

The Temple of Isis in Philae had also chapels of Hathor, Mandilis (Nubian Horus), Arsenupis and Imhotep (who had been deified in the 26th Dinasty). In a side entrance to the temple we can find the very last hieroglyphic inscription, written by a priest of Mandulis.

We are almost done for this morning, but we will do one last stop before lunch: A traditional perfume shop.