The desert city of Aswan

Horus and Isis, Temple of Philae

Egypt has grown from 23 million people in the 1950's to over $100 million people today.  While Cairo has grown the most of any Egyptian city, upper Egypt from the Sudan border to Luxor has grown rapidly as well, now having a population of 1,800,000 people.  That may seem small compared to Cairo, except that arable land here is minimal, so there is not a lot to support a large population. 

felucca below Aga Khan's mausoleum

The area obviously has substantial tourism and also grows sugar cane.  By far the most important economic force, however, is the High Aswan Dam, built in the 1960's to supply Egypt with power.  A huge downside of the dam is the loss of the annual Nile flood, which renewed the fertility of the soil along the river and provided a water and a transport system to much of Lower Egypt.  The Nile Delta in Alexandria, for example, has shrunk from 5 river channels to 2. 

Lake Nasser from the High Dam

Aswan also has a lower dam, a few miles north of the High Dam, started in 1902.  As the water rose behind the Low Dam, the Temple of Philae, in danger of flooding, was moved to a new location with help from UNESCO.  We visited the High Dam, the Temple of Philae and the Unfinished Obelisk yesterday before sailing towards Luxor.  Sail boats called feluccas fill the reservoir, so we took one to relax and see the sights, including Kitchener's Island with its botanic gardens and the Aga Khan's tomb.

entrance to Temple of Philae

The High Dam is filled with sand and faced with limestone.  The slope of the dam is very shallow to give it maximum stability, the top measuring 130 feet across and the bottom, 3,200 feet across.  It is nearly 2 1/2 miles wide and 350 feet high, so truly a massive structure.   Egyptians are very proud of it. 
The Temple of Philae, now relocated to an island in the reservoir behind the Low Dam, was dedicated to Isis, the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus.  There are so many Egyptian gods that I can't keep track of them, but I'm trying to remember the most important ones (those with big temples dedicated to them).   Philae is a lovely setting with beautiful structures covered by the carved friezes found in every Egyptian temple.  These tell the stories of the gods and their rivalries and wars.  Some show daily life or worship and offering ceremonies.  In later carvings, still 2500 years old, the flat bodies from earlier artists gain a little shape, showing muscles, knees, breasts and, sometimes, a little perspective.

Head of Isis, Tenple of Philae

The final important visit in Aswan is to the Unfinished Obelisk, lying in one of the quarries that produced the many obelisks in ancient Egypt.  I can only imagine how terrible it was to be a laborer or slave in the quarry, chiseling out these enormous columns in summer heat of well over 100 degrees and winter desert chill.  Lines of men with chisels and probably large stones for pounding cut channels on all sides of the obelisk until they reached the proper depth.  Then, they chiseled out beneath the obelisk until only a small strip of rock remained.  They placed logs on one side of the column and soaked them with water to make them swell, which dislodged the obelisk from the final piece of rock holding it in place.

unfinished obelisk

Below the obelisks, workers created a channel to move Nile water nearer to the column of rock.  The Unfinished Obelisk weighs 1200 tons, so you can imagine what a problem it was to move such columns from the quarry to the water, where a huge raft awaited them.  Obviously, many broke on their journey, which must have been very discouraging to the workers who had spent months carving them out of the quarry.  The Unfinished Obelisk cracked before they got to that point so was abandoned in place.
Egypt has 17 completed obelisks left in the country.  European powers carted off a number of them to put into their national museums.  Egypt isn't likely to get its patrimony back anytime soon, though eventually they might.  When the government asked the Pergamon Museum in Berlin to just loan them their beautiful statue of Nefertiti, the Museum refused, saying it was part of Germany's national treasure.

gate to Temple of Philae