Day
5: Aswan : Visit Tombs of the Nobles, Motor Boat to Sehel Island,
and Unfinished Obelisk
Tombs of Noble - Mekhu and Sabni, Sarenput
I and Sarenput II and Harkhuf
We met our guide, Ahmed Salama. He has completed the 4 year hospitality
and tourism degree and speaks very good English. He has studied
further on his own and is very knowledgeable. He is from a small
town near Luxor and has come to Aswan because there are only about
500 qualified guides there, and in Luxor there are 2000 or more.
He commented that we had a "big progam."
 Ahmed
and Joan inside the tomb of Mekhu & Sabni.We told him that we wanted pictures of the tombs if possible, no
flash, of course. So he negotiated that for us at the site. The
proviso is that you not disturb others by taking pictures while
anyone else is in the tomb. The guards control which tombs are opened
and would normally get small baksheesh anyway, so we negotiated
for the whole package before climbing up the hill to the tombs.
There are many steps and the views of Aswan from the top are great.
While some of the photos appear bright enough to have been taken
with flash, they were NOT! We both carry Canon cameras that have
wonderful low light hand held settings.
The climb up to the tombs of the Nobles is about 100 stairs, smoothed
with age and very uneven. Wear good shoes and do your exercises
before you come to Egypt to try this one. But the tombs are good
and seldom seen. Don't try to see the site on your own, as you will
wear yourself out looking into empty holes and the site is high
on the cliff. Get a guide and a feluca on the Aswan side and don't
pay either until you get back to Aswan. We came by motor boat which
was hired for the day.
Motor Boat to Sehel Island
After the tombs. we came down the sand slope which was the safest
way to come down. Then we went up the river to Sehel Island which
is on the first cataract. It is a rock and sand island and has little
soil left since the annual flood was stopped by the dam. The women
of the Nubian village of Sehel are famous for their beaded necklaces
which are crocheted into a thick cylinder from a sting of strung
beads.
One woman in the customary black dress and head covering met the
boat and followed us all the way up to the site, I told her we would
buy when we finished, but she just gently kept with us. The head
man of the village also met the boat and told us the story of the
rocks. The rocks are contained in an iron fence built by UNESCO,
and there is an Entrance Fee of EP20, I think.
Ancient votive carvings of Sehel Island
The rocks are covered in votive offerings to the god Hapi and Khnum.
The famous famine stele is at the top of, you guessed it, a mountain
with a steep climb. I stopped several times on the way, but the
carvings are very interesting and the view of the cataracts from
the top is beautiful.
Down the hill again and bargaining for the jewelery. She had several
interesting wooden bead necklaces and several that she and her aunt
had made. Ahmed, the guide, had given me 3EP to give her if I didn't
want to buy, he said the village was very poor, and the tourist
season was ending..
But I am a shopper by nature and so Ken and I picked out 5 necklaces
and 6 bracelets. The Head man said, ten each for necklace and 2
bracelets for 10. That was 80. But you have to bargain, it is part
of the game. So I proposed EP60 which they accepted. She showed
me how she made the necklaces and I gave her elderly aunt the 3EP
and she took another necklace that she had made and pressed it into
my hand and said "gateau" - gift, to which I replied "merci".
The Egyptians are usually gentle courteous people and like to converse
and relate to others. In situations like this, you should let your
heart be your guide.
The Head Man had provided a detailed history of the UNESCO project
and the rocks so I gave the head man 10 EP baksheesh, or so I thought..
I had actually given him 5EP and when asked, I told the guide that
I had given him 10. On the walk back to the dock, I was careful
not to walk in front, but walked just behind him because he was
truely elderly and it was a bit of effort for him. As we got to
the dock he turned to me, held out the bill and said "This
is only 5EP" so I appologized and fished out the other 5. My
mistake. Sehel Island was an interesting site to visit, no one else
was there, but keep it for the cool season, you could never do it
in summer. Also if you go during the high season, the selection
of jewelery is probably very large.
Another thing, we were asked for "stilos" or ball point
pens, at the island. I didn't have an extra one, but the reason
they asked was the children must have them to attend school--no
pen, no lessons--so pack a few extra ones if you can afford the
weight.
The Unfinished Obelisk
When we reached the dock at Aswan we were met by the car which
took us up to the Unfinished Obelisk. This is a well developed site
built within the old granite quarry. The unfinished obelisk was
at the top of a steep hill. I had always pictured it as being on
a flat plane, but no it was another steep climb in the 4:00 sun.
Whew!..
I would recommend you carefully separate your climbing events
in Aswan and not pack them into one day as we inadvertantly did.
None of the stairs, stairways, platforms or any other part of Egyptian
site furniture are safety conscious. So watch your step. The unfinished
obelisk would have been the largest obelisk ever (1,168 tons and
134 feet high), had it been raised, but it was left in the quarry
when it cracked during manufacture. It would have, even today, have
been the largest piece of stone ever handled.
How to make an Obelisk
The process of making an obelisk is to find the stretch of granite
you like; draw out the obelisk, create holes in the granite and
fill them with wet acacia wood that explands along the line. Then
you begin to connect the holes by pounding the stone with large
round granite rocks. This whole process creates a trough along side
the incomplete obelisk, from which you then began to chisel under
the obelisk.
There is a family of yellow dogs that make their home in the quarry.
These dogs look just like the ones in the private tombs, with the
tail that curls up. They were everywhere in Aswan. We skipped the
Fatimid Cemetary because we were tired, but as we drove by it looked
interesting and is an Islamic site rather than an ancient Egyptian
site. You might want to schedule it in your itinerary..
|
