The city of Aswan has long been the cultural, economic and political lynchpin of Southern Egypt. It is here that the Pharaohs defended the borders of their realm against the Nubian kingdoms of South Sudan, here that great quarries cut deep into the earth to supply the granite monoliths for the Old Kingdom’s grandiose building projects, and here that traders and merchants converged to tout their goods at the last major urban stronghold on the Egyptian Nile.
Today, Aswan boasts a certain chilled-out charm that is mirrored by the slow-flow of the Nile, filtering its way down from the great dam on Lake Nasser. The impressive Temple of Isis is without question the most popular ancient site in the region, offering an insight into the religious and cultural Zeitgeist of the country during the transitory centuries of the late first millennium BC. That said, there’s a real melange of other historical points of interest too, from the shadowy Tombs of the Nobles, to the 4,000-year-old settlements on Elephantine Island, all best explored under the able tutelage of an expert Aswan tour guide!