Randa Achmawi*
Cairo – The city of Aswan, on the banks of the Nile, 843 kilometres south of Cairo, is renowned as one of the most beautiful sites in Egypt. The cool climate in winter, from December to February, attracts a crowd of European tourists. Aswan is a favourite refuge of international celebrities, like former French president Jacques Chirac. "For many years they regularly spent their Christmas and New Year vacations here, in this city, and hotel," explain the employees of the legendary Old Cataract, a monumental palace hotel built in 1899, on a hill, with a view to the Nile and to Elephantine Island.
Aswan is the administrative seat of the province that goes by the same name. It is also in the city in which the famous novel "Death on the Nile", by Agatha Christie, written in the early 20th century, takes place. According to stories told by the hotel employees, the British writer, of aristocratic origin, spent several winters there and spent her days sitting on a balcony, writing. This is why many of the travellers who visit the site, since the publication of the book, carry it with them to identify in it excerpts that translate the atmosphere that reigns there.
The landscape is still the same. The magic view onto the Nile, where the Feluccas sail slowly, makes many people visit Aswan just to appreciate the contrast of the pure blue of the Nile with the white of the sails that move slowly in the wind. "I have been coming here fore several years to meditate and to put my thoughts on track," said a tourist who lives in Cairo and has been visiting the site for several years. Many say that it was during his stays in Aswan that François Mitterand, another former French president who visited the site while he was still alive, decided to run for presidency in France.
The city of Aswan, which, for centuries, was a warehousing centre for caravans, is described by ancient European historians as a frontier between two worlds: the civilized one, better known, and the more distant one. "The mysterious world of the African depths," they say. The history of Aswan dates back to the Ancient Empire. "After the decline of Elephantine, trade and administrative activities, which were cantered on the island at the time, were moved to the right bank of the river and a new city, which the pharaohs called Suanit (which means market square), was created," explained Dalia Fawzi, a tourist guide in the city.
"Later the Greek named it ‘Syene’’, she adds. According to her, Syene became well known for its trade activities, but also for its closeness with sites where there were great volumes of grey granite and, mainly, pink granite named "Syenite" necessary for the construction of pharaonic monuments. "Later, the city became the capital of the first province in the region, called Ta Satis (land of Satis.) Later the name became Swani, and finally Aswan," explained Dalia.
Little over one kilometre south of the city, beyond the Fatimid cemetery – where there are some notable mausoleums from the Fatimid time – is the famous Aswan quarry, where the pink granite is found. There is an unfinished 42-metre tall and 1,197 tonne unfinished obelisk that was abandoned due to a great fissure. "Had this obelisk been finished and extracted, it would have been the largest obelisk ever built by the pharaohs," explained Dalia.
The several guides that may be found at the site try to explain the complicated techniques of delimiting and extracting the local granite, used by the ancient Egyptians. The same granite stones were used in the first Aswan dam, built by the English in 1902. And this is also true about the construction of the Greater Aswan dam, which took place in 1955.
The Nubian Museum, which was inaugurated in 1998, is also one of the most important attractions in the city. It is found in the centre of a garden on one of the hills of the city. There, visitors may appreciate over 2,000 articles that bring to mind the whole of the Nubian history, and the history of the southern Egyptian region where Aswan is located from pre-history to the Christian era. The site also includes a library where information about the Nubian history may be read.
On leaving the museum, the best way to complete the visit of Aswan is taking a Felucca, crossing the Nile, and heading to the left bank, to visit the mausoleum of Agha Khan III Mohamed Shah, which is also placed on the top of a hill, on a sand dune. His grave is in white marble and is decorated with several verses of the Koran.
Agha Khan III was a Pakistani millionaire and Ismaili Muslim religious leader in his country. His passion for the city of Aswan, which he frequently visited throughout his life, is globally renowned. "He liked the city so much that, of all the cities he had visited around the world, Aswan was the one he chose for his final resting place," explained one of the guardians of the mausoleum.
*Translated by Mark Ament
