Egypt
Greece
Etruscan
Rome

Egypt on Tour in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Upper Egypt

Elephantine and Aswan

Philae

Abu Simbel

The two rock cut temples at Abu Simbel were created by Ramsses II, for himself and a smaller one for his great wife Nofretari. These were some of the first temples he built soon after his success at the battle of Kadesh.

In this century these mouments gained great notoriety during the building of the High Aswan Dam, because they would have been flooded and lost. Because they were cut out of rock sitting in a cliff above the river, movement was difficult. The United Nations, under UNESCO, eventually came up with the money and a plan, and the temples were moved into a concrete mountain about 200m away and 65m higher up. The temple walls were cut into blocks, moved and reassembled.

Nubia to Central Africa

The Upper Reaches of Lake Nasser

For our pleasure, the captain decides to fly up river until the White and Blue Nile rivers converge. The long stretch of Lake Nasser formed by the High Aswan dam is amazing. The Dam is 11,811 feet long, 3215 feet thick at the base and 364 feet tall. Yet it only contains about 18 times the material used in the Great Pyramid of Cheops. Because of the dam the Nile has backed up for 500 miles, covering all trace of the people who lived here.

In ancient times many people lived by the river, this artificial lake has destroyed hidden artifacts, and prevented us from ever knowing stories kept on papyrus in yet undiscovered sites. Dry papyrus is preserved, waiting to be discovered; wet it is gone and will never be discovered, even if the lake dries out later. The damage has been done.

Our U2 has reached Khartoum at the joining of the White and Blue Niles; we turn; our tour over, we are headed back to the North Pole to see more exhibits in the Tigertail Virtual Museum.

Back to Edfu and Kom Ombo

Look at Egyptian Artifacts organized historically

Egypt
Greece
Etruscan
Rome

2003-02-26