Explore Aswan Governorate: Abu Simbel, Philae & the Nubian Nile

The red granite of the hills behind Aswan was cut for obelisks, colossal statues, sarcophagi and the burial chamber of Khufu's Great Pyramid, and the ancient obelisks that now stand in Rome, Paris, London and New York came from the same stone. In one of the ancient quarries, on the southern edge of the town, the Unfinished Obelisk still lies in the bedrock where its carvers abandoned it after a crack opened: about 42 metres long and more than a thousand tonnes, it would have been larger than any obelisk Egypt ever raised. The trenches cut around it and the marks of the stone pounders show how such a monolith was freed from the rock. The visit takes under an hour.

Philae, the temple of Isis, stands on Agilkia, a granite island in the reservoir between the old Aswan Dam and the High Dam, a short drive south of the town. Built largely under the Ptolemies and the Romans, it stood on the neighbouring island of Philae until the old dam's waters flooded it for much of the year; in the 1970s it was taken down block by block and rebuilt on higher Agilkia. Motorboats cross from the landing at Shellal in about ten minutes, and the temple is seen at its best on that approach, its pylons and colonnades rising from the rocks above the water. On the island, reliefs of Isis and Osiris cover the walls of the main temple, and at the water's edge stands the Kiosk of Trajan, an open pavilion of tall columns known as the “Pharaoh's Bed”.

The High Dam, finished in 1970 a few kilometres upstream of Philae, is a wall of rock and clay 111 metres high and nearly 4 km long across the Nile. It ended the river's yearly flood and holds back Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. For a visitor it is a short stop rather than a sight: the road across the crest looks out over the lake to the south and the river far below to the north.

On the lake shore just south of the High Dam, the monuments of a stretch of Nubia now under the water were rebuilt together: the Temple of Kalabsha, a large sandstone temple of the Roman period built for the Nubian god Mandulis, and beside it Beit el-Wali, a small rock-cut temple of Ramesses II whose reliefs still keep their colour. The site is usually reached by a short boat ride from beside the dam, and it draws far fewer visitors than Philae.

Further south, the other temples saved from the lake stand in small groups on its shores, far from the towns: Wadi el-Sebua, a temple of Ramesses II named for the avenue of sphinxes in front of it, and Amada, among the oldest temples of Nubia, its painted reliefs intact because the whole building was moved on rails in one piece. The cruise boats that sail Lake Nasser between Aswan and Abu Simbel over three or four nights moor at each group, and they are the practical way to see them.

Abu Simbel stands on the west shore of Lake Nasser, some 40 km north of the Sudanese border. Four seated colossi of Ramesses II, each about 20 metres high, are cut from the sandstone cliff around the entrance of the Great Temple, and inside, halls lined with statues of the king lead back to the sanctuary. Beside it, the smaller temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor and to Nefertari, Ramesses' queen. In the 1960s both temples were cut into blocks and rebuilt 65 metres higher and further back from the water, set into an artificial hill, so the lake now lies at their feet. The Great Temple faces the sunrise, and around 22 February and 22 October the first light runs the whole length of the temple and lights the seated statues in the sanctuary; those two mornings draw crowds to the village.

North of Aswan, the road and the railway follow the Nile towards Luxor past the governorate's two great riverside temples, both of the Ptolemaic period. Kom Ombo, about 50 km downstream on a bend of the river, is a double temple shared by the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon god Haroeris. Edfu, about halfway to Luxor, has the Temple of Horus, among the best-preserved temples in Egypt, its pylon, courtyard and roofed halls still standing. Both are stops of the Nile cruise between Aswan and Luxor.

The old way north from Aswan is under sail. Felucca crews take passengers downstream for one or two nights, mooring at the bank in the evening and sleeping on deck under blankets, with meals cooked on board; the trips end near Kom Ombo or Edfu, where a car takes over for the road back or on to Luxor. It is camping on the water: there are no cabins, the facilities are basic, and in winter the nights on the river are cold. Agree the route, the number of nights, the meals and the end point with the captain before setting off, and book through a hotel or an established agent rather than a tout on the Corniche, as with any tour arranged on the spot.