Aswan
is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan
Governorate.
It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and
is a busy market and tourist centre. The modern city has
expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the
island of Elephantine.
Aswan is the ancient city of Swenet, which in antiquity was the
frontier town of Ancient Egypt facing the south. Swenet is
supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with
the same name. This goddess later was identified as Eileithyia
by the Greeks and Lucina by the Romans during their occupation
of Ancient Egypt because of the similar association of their
goddesses with childbirth, and of which the import is "the
opener". The ancient name of the city also is said to be derived
from the Egyptian symbol for trade.
Trip Information
A day tour to the High Dam, an engineering miracle built in 1960
protecting Egypt from annual floods from the Nile. Continue to
visit the Un-Finished Obelisk which shows the techniques used by
the ancient Egyptians to cut obelisks. Most probably this
obelisk belongs to Queen Hatshepsut, one of the rulers of the
18th Dynasty and the royal wife of king Tuthmosis II.
Then continue visiting to Philae Temple which was built on the
honor of goddess Isis the chief deity of the island.
