We learned today that Aswan has two dams – the High Dam that was built in the 1960’s, and a British dam that was built sixty years earlier. Our bus drove us across both dams today.
First, though, the bus dropped us off at a boat with an ancient 40-horsepower Suzuki outboard motor that would take us to the Temple of Isis at Philae. The motor wouldn’t start at first, until our pilot got help from a man about 30 years younger who yanked on the cord hard enough to get it going.
The temple was moved after it was flooded by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. A temporary coffer dam was built around the temple to dry it out enough to be moved to a nearby island. Philae was built during the Greco-Roman period. Construction started under Ptolemy II Philadelphius (285-246 B.C.) and continued until Roman emperor Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) The temple had a layout now familiar to us, ever since visiting the Temple of Karnak at Luxor. Behind a large pylon is an open front court, lined on each side with colonnades, the columns having a variety of capitals.
After the front court is a second pylon which opens into a second court and hypostyle hall, with columns that have the face of Hathor, the goddess who has the ears of a cow, as part of their capitals. One of the inner rooms had all goddesses in it. The Pharoah presented his offerings only to goddesses; there were no male gods depicted in the room. Heba said that this was unusual, if not unique to this temple.
The inner part of the sanctuary was converted to a Christian Church after Justinian abolished the ancient Egyptian religion in 529 A.D. and required its followers to convert to Christianity. The Maltese cross was inscribed into the walls of the temple at that time. This may have been one of the last places that the ancient Egyptian religion was practiced. The early Christians also chiseled out the features of many of the gods and pharaohs depicted on the walls. Apparently, these gods, goddesses, and pharaohs were so attractive that just looking at them might be enough to cause apostasy.
We then had our look at the High Dam, after driving across the low dam to get there. The High Dam has 12 turbines of 175 MW each, or 2100 MW total capacity. According to Heba, the British dam has about 500 MW of capacity. At the high dam there is a park and a monument dedicated to Egyptian-Russian friendship, with a very nice cafeteria adjoining them. The cafeteria was almost deserted.
We piled into the bus and drove a short distance on the west side of the river to an ancient quarry containing the Unfinished Obelisk. It is believed that the obelisk was being carved out of the quarry for Pharaoh Hatshepsut when it cracked. The crack must have been heartbreaking for those who had put so much effort into freeing three of its sides from the bonds of earth. We looked at some of the obsidian tools that were used to pound the granite, but we were forbidden from using them. In that heat, I did not want to be a quarryman. 
We sailed around to the other side of Elephantine Island. Our pilot, ethnically Nubian, pointed out the village where he lives. Nearby was a hotel that was under construction. Heba said it had been under construction for 20 years. In the post-revolution economy, construction had stopped completely. When we got to the far side of Elephantine Island, the wind died. We turned around and headed back downstream as our two crew members broke out the oars. Heba at first took the tiller, but when I indicated that I knew how to steer a sailboat, she gladly relinquished it to me. As we got past the southern tip of Elephantine Island, the wind picked up again and the rowers shipped their oars. Much to my delight, they allowed me to continue steering. I steered almost all the way to the quay. What a treat!
No comments:
Post a Comment