Our last site visit before leaving the SS Sudan in Aswan was to see the Philae temple complex. It is a comparatively young complex built from around 350 BC. Originally, it was located on the Island of Philae and lies in the waters between the Low and High dams.

This island and the temples though were to be the victims of the rising waters of Lake Nasser behind the Aswan High Dam, built from around 1960, further up the river from the Aswan Low Dam. So, the temple complex was moved block by block to the nearby island of Agilkia, where it is today. A few rocks and remnant tree trunks are all that remain above water of Philae Island.

The main temple is dedicated to the god Isis.

There is a small stand alone temple for Hathor at the rear of the main complex.

Staying on in Aswan for a few nights allowed us to make the day trip down to Abu Simbel, on the shores of Lake Nasser.

Just the two of us with the driver and guide. Had a bit of a snooze along the way. It is a three hour trip to about 40 km north of the border with Sudan. Big military presence for most of the way. It is a fairly sensitive region and Egypt is making an enormous effort to populate the area which is a vast desert landscape stretching away to Libya in the west and the Red Sea in the east.

Huge canals have been built moving water from the Nile to irrigate the desert soils for crop production on a grand scale. Our guide notes there is a big drive for grain supply security, particularly given that Egypt imports grains from Ukraine. He said they aim to be self sufficient ASAP.

Abu Simbel is an amazing first up sight. The task of relocating the temples as enormous and complex as their original creation.

The temples were made by sculpting the mountain face in the mid 1200BCs. Then in the face of Lake Nasser flooding them after 1960 the mountain was cut into blocks and glued back together again on a higher site with the same positioning and aspect as the originals. A giant three dimensional jig saw puzzle. Amazing work.

Inside the temple the walls are covered with the usual sort of carvings, paintings and hieroglyphs. In one spot there is a large panel that documents Ramesses II victory over the Hittites at the battle of Kadesh. We had previously ‘heard’ about this while in Jordan a few years back. Amazing now to see the actual text!

Ramesses II not only constructed his own temple but also one for his favoured wife, Nefertari, he had numerous wives and something like a 130 children. Lived into his nineties.

Nefertari’s temple is dominated by reliefs of her, her children and the gods. Ramesses II is ever present!

We returned to Aswan, around 5.30, after a pleasant late lunch at a local Nubian restaurant in the nearby township.