Aswan Travel Guide
About The City Of Aswan
Introduction
Aswan, formerly known as Swenett (or Syene), was the southern frontier town of Ancient Egypt. The name “Swenett” was inspired by the Egyptian goddess with the same name. The Greeks later called the city Eileithyia, and then Lucina by the Romans, due to the goddesses’ shared association with childbirth and their word for “opening”. Swenett is also a derivative of the Egyptian symbol for trade or market.
“Aswan is part of the UNESCO Creative
Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art”
The River Nile
The Ancient Egyptians viewed the Nile as the giver of life, and always oriented themselves toward the source of the Nile, which is to the south of Egypt. And so, in Egypt, they thought as the Nile flowed from Swenett into the rest of the country, that Swenett “opened” or “birthed” the rest of Egypt. Swenett was on a peninsula on the east bank of the Nile, immediately downstream from the first whitewater rapids of the river, which extends upriver to Philae. However, the Nile is close to half a mile wide at Aswan, and from Aswan, the river is passable by ship for more than 750 miles downstream to the north. A boat voyage taken in favorable weather from Aswan to Alexandria would usually take between 21 to 28 days.
The Quarries
Swenett’s ancient stone quarries boasted the richest supply of granite in the region and were valued especially for Syenite granite. These quarries provided the rock for the colossal statues, obelisks, and monolithic shrines found throughout Egypt, including the pyramids. Traces of the quarrymen who worked in these quarries 3,000 years ago can still be found on the rock faces.
The Latitude
The geographers of the old have a high value of the latitude of Aswan city, which was situated at 24° 5′ 23. They claimed it was situated right under the tropic and that a straight staff would shed no shadow on the mid-summer day.
They stated that a water-well reflected the sun’s disc at midday. This assertion is only relatively true; the shadow was just 1⁄of the staff at the summer solstice, and therefore could barely be distinguished, and the northern limb of the Sun’s disk would be almost vertical. Eratosthenes used this information along with solstice shadow’s length measurements at Alexandria to execute the first recorded calculation of Earth’s circumference.
Modern Aswan
One of the most enjoyable places to spend a vacation in Egypt is Aswan city, with the beautiful views of the broad Nile River meeting the Desert, and a relaxed atmosphere.
Since the 19th century, Aswan city has drawn visitors from different places in the world. It housed many historic and sight worthy monuments, including the Agha Khan Mausoleum, the Nubian Museum, the Aswan Museum, the Temple of Kalabsha, the High Dam, the Kitchener’s Island, the Philae Temple, and the Unfinished Obelisk.
