Along the Nile Aswan

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20th March Boat ride on the Nile #heygo http://www.heygo.com

On the northern end of the First Cataract, marking ancient Egypt's southern frontier, Aswan has always been of great strategic importance. In ancient times it was a garrison town for the military campaigns against Nubia; its quarries provided the granite used for so many sculptures and obelisks.

Our virtual trip was a boat ride on the river Nile.

As we sailed along the river we saw sites of Noble's tombs, the famous Kitcheners Island and the Nubian villages.



The Dome of Hawa is the rocky mountain on the western bank.The mountain is approximately 130 meters high and has carved graves of nobles and priests of Aswan from the era of the ancient Egyptians.

The tombs of the Dome of Al-Hawa are distinguished by that they were nobles, governors of the Nubia region and notables working in that area from the time of the Pharaohs, and they are rooms engraved inside the mountain, decorated with walls, of various sizes and designs, giving their embossed decoration on the walls pictures of the usual life during the days of the ancient Egyptians: scenes of slaughter Cows, visits of relatives and friends, fishing, hunting birds, dart bearers, musicians and others.



The guide mentioned the cataracts, hmmm nothing to do with the eyes but these Cataracts are waterfalls. They are not high, but they carry enormous volumes of water. The word cataract is used for waterfalls along the Nile, which are little more than steps in the river.

Despite these steps a small boat was struggling so our boat gave him a tow.



The Aga Khan mausoleum

The Aga Khan was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims, one of the founders of the All-India Muslim League, and even briefly served as President of the League of Nations in 1937.

Aga Khan III was extremely wealthy. In fact, his people say that on his birthday in the year 1945 he was weighed in diamonds, which he then gave to his followers in a spirit of generosity.

The mausoleum was built according to his wife Yvette Blanche Labrousse’s wishes. When Aga Khan knew it was his time to die he decided to build a location for his burial place; it would be somewhere along the West Bank of the Nile. When her husband died, she oversaw the construction of the Aga Khan Mausoleum, and finished the project in 16 months with the help of famous architects and contractors.

After Aga Khan’s death, his surviving widow continued to leave a red rose on his white marble tomb. Living in the villa, she managed to do this faithfully until her own death in 2000. Even to this day, a red rose still finds its way to the sarcophagus.



We finished our boat trip as the sun was setting near to the Old Cataract Hotel where Agatha Christy finished her famous book Death On The Nile.

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