The Nile is the longest river in Africa and, after the Mississipi-Missouri river system, the longest watercourse in the world. Garnering great masses of water from the Ethiopian Highlands and rain-rich tropics, it traverses the very different world of the northeast African desert plateau to end in the Mediterranean after a course of 4,145mi/6,671km. In striking contrast to the green valley bottom are the yellow and reddish scarps of the desert plateau through which the river has carved a passage: and along the verges of the plateau stand the temples and pyramids which bear witness to an age-old culture.
The colossal Figure of Ramesses II, originally measuring more than 13 m in length, has been moved from its original position outside the temple to a modern building designed to protect it.
The Pyramid of Meidum was begun in the third Dynasty and completed in the fourth Dynasty. Its exact purpose has never been determined but it was never used as a burial place.
This alabaster Sphinx is 8 m long and 4 m high, and is thought to date to the 18th or 19th Dynasty. It is currently located near the building which holds the Figure of Ramesses II.
Daraw (east bank of the Nile), a large village which was once a famous camel market on the route from Egypt to the Sudan. On the west bank, near Rakaba, are the remains of ancient Contra-Ombos. Beyond this, still on the west bank, is the village of El-Kubaniya, near which are early Egyptian cemeteries. Then (east bank of the Nile) Gebel el-Hammam, with quarries which provided stone during the reign of Hatshepsut (18th Dynasty) for the older Temple of Ombos of which nothing now remains.
14mi/22km northwest of Biba, beyond the Bahr Yusuf, on the edge of the desert, is the village of Dishasha, with the tombs of Fifth Dynasty nomarchs of this area. The tombs of lnti and Shedu contain interesting mural reliefs (battle scenes, the siege of a Syrian town, etc.). Beyond Biba are a number of large islands in the Nile.
On the east bank of the Nile, some 3mi/5km above El-Fashn, is the village of El-Hiba, nestling amid palms, with the remains of the Greek city of Ancyronpolis. The well preserved town walls, several yards thick, date from the 21st Dynasty. Within the walls, among the palms, are the remains of a Temple of Amun built by Sheshonq I (22nd Dynasty).
The Aswan granite now appears for the first time in the cliffs flanking the Nile. The large island of Bahrif is passed. Opposite the island on the west bank is El-Waresab, where there are quarries with graffiti. Beyond this, on the west bank, the hill containing the picturesquely situated rock tombs of Aswan comes into view.
Faw Qibli (east bank of the Nile), the Coptic Phbow. This was the site of a large monastery founded by Pachomius at which monks from all the Egyptian monasteries used to meet twice a year. A short distance to the south was Tabennese, where Pachomius founded the first coenobitic monastery about 320.
Hiw (west bank of the Nile), a large village situated at one of the Nile's sharpest bends. A short distance above the village, on the banks of the river, is the Tomb of Sheikh Selim (d. 1891 ), who spent most of his long life sitting naked on this spot and was revered as the helper of boatmen on the river. Near Hiw are the sparse remains of ancient Diospolis Parva, with large Early Christian cemeteries.
Sidfa (west bank of the Nile), with a number of picturesque dovecots. On the east bank, some 1.25mi/2km from the Nile, is the district capital of El-Badari, near which, in 1924-25, were found the prehistoric tombs which gave their name to the Badarian culture.
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Colossal Figure of Ramesses II
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Temple of Horus, Edfu
Kom Ombo - Temple of Suchos and Haroeris, Wadi Kom Ombo
Sphinx
Temple of Horus, Edfu
Kom Ombo - Temple of Suchos and Haroeris, Wadi Kom Ombo
Temple of Horus, Edfu
Kom Ombo - Temple of Suchos and Haroeris, Wadi Kom Ombo
