Aswan - Monastery of St Simeon

(Local Name: DeirAmba Samaan / DeirAmba Hadra) The ruined Monastery of St Simeon, situated on a hill in the desert on the west bank of the Nile, can be reached from the river bank on a footpath running up a desert valley opposite the south end of Elephantine; the climb takes 20minutes. One of the largest and best preserved Coptic monasteries, it was founded in the seventh C. and abandoned in the 13th because of water shortage. The buildings, standing on a rock shelf on two levels, are surrounded by a wall 20-23ft/6-7m high, the lower part of which is constructed of undressed stone, the upper part of sun dried bricks; on the west side the lower part is hewn from the rock.