14/10/22: CAIRO - ASWAN - NILE CRUISE

 14/10/22 : Cairo - Aswan - Nile Cruise - Kum Ombo

We got up early at 3am, checked out to catch our flight at 5 am to Aswan by flight and after box breakfast, we were taken by bus to Aswan dam, which provide irrigation and electricity to the whole Egypt.  

The temples built 3000 to 5000 years by Egyptian Kings, that had deteriorated over thousands of years were rebuilt by Greeks and Roman occupiers by raising the old structures and supporting old part new structures and supporting with part new structures.  So we had two types of architecture Egyptian and Greek/Roman,  This can be seen in current temples relocated, and black coated layers of stone that got submerged by floods and river water over centuries.  When Nasser decided to build Aswan dam in early 50s, to stop recurring floods and droughts, many island temples like Philea were to get  submerged by the waters of the storage.  With UNESCO help many of these restored temples were cut layer by layer and relocated to higher grounds which are also islands today.  

Bus took us around and over Aswan Dam.  They dropped us near bay, where we took a boat ride to Philea Island to see the Temple of Isis, built to honour the goddess Isis.  The complex of structures of the Temple of Isis was completed by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (reigned 285–246 BCE) and his successor, Ptolemy III Euergetes (reigned 246–221 BCE). The temple is very important since it is one of the last places where the ancient Egyptian religion survived after the arrival of Christianity until 550 A.D. The first Christians transformed the temple into a church where they disfigured many of the statues of the ancient gods and destroyed their images.

We were taken to lunch at restaurant on our cruise boat where we enjoyed, Royal Ruby, for next 3 days, the best way to see incredible ruins of Ancient Eygpt and modern life along the banks of Rive Nile.  

After dinner, we went up on deck  to see lit up Nile by night.