The Nubian Museum…

Mummies found here in Aswan lie on display...

The baboon was a symbol to whom offerings were made whenever a health crisis arose...

The Museum was an eye opener, after the smaller and much older one on Elephantine Island. It has a very modern look and feel to it, and the exhibits are well labeled and document the history of not only Aswan and the surrounding area, but also that of Upper Egypt… We strolled around for two and a half hours, trying to absorb the magnitude of the history which dates back to 3000 BC…!!

This guy seemed quite happy with the fact that he no longer had a care in the world...

With a history stretching so far back, it is difficult to understand how it all fits together… Egypt was conquered by the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, and later by the Romans led by Julius Caesar, who had more than just a “friendly relationship” with Queen Cleopatra… Even Napoleon Bonaparte took a turn at subjugating Egypt, and each of the above has had an influence on the history of the land…

Without a guide and a Dictaphone, and an armful of guide books, you would be hard pressed to remember in what order it all came about, or the names of the numerous Gods that were worshiped and paid tribute to…

Statue of Ramses ll, wearing the Double Crown of both Upper and Lower Egypt...

And let's not forget the Tomb of the Forgotten Fire Extinguishers...

By the time we were through with our visit to the museum, it was early evening, and after a long walk back up the hill that I had already walked up that same afternoon, we found the Nubian Restaurant we had been looking for, and settled down to have dinner high up above the lights of Aswan, reflecting off the river below us…

This open air restaurant has sand floors and long benches covered in carpets and cushions, and although we were the only diners that evening, there was still an interesting atmosphere about the place… Regrettably they did not serve alcohol, or had run out of stock, so water and sodas had to suffice…

After dinner, the gang took a taxi back to their hotels, and I walked Annie back to hers, which mercifully, was only a short distance away!

The next day, she would begin her long trip back to Canada via Cairo and Paris, and arrive in Montreal almost 36 hours later, where her beloved cats would be waiting… After a couple of beers, and promises to keep in touch, I managed to score a ride back to town on the hotel’s staff bus, and walked around the market until well after midnight. It was amazing to see people doing their shopping at 1.00am in the morning! Kids were playing in the streets, mothers carried their groceries around, and fathers sat sipping tea and smoking hookah pipes on the pavements… Normal Friday night in Aswan…

It had been an interesting first day in Egypt, and I realized that there could have been worse places to be stuck without my bike. There was so much to do and see here, this being the terminus for all the fully laden cruise vessels which sail down the Nile… Thankfully, this was the low season, so although there were dozens of vessels tied up on the banks, the streets remained relatively empty, and the tourist sites did not require any queuing, which was a blessing.

Annie thought the museum was a hit...!! Little did she know that we had to walk up that bloody hill again...!!

The view from the window in my room was stunning, and I could look up and down the Nile, and watch all manner of vessels criss-crossing the waterway. Lights from the hotels along the Cornice illuminated the banks, and on a few of the cruise ships, parties were in full swing, with tourists frolicking in the pools on their decks, way into the early hours of the morning…

I had made a serious blunder in leaving my laptop with the bike, and was therefore unable to write about the things I was doing while they were still fresh in my mind… I had also neglected to bring one of my books with me, so had to pay almost R60.00 for a British newspaper, to see what was happening in the big wide world…

Not too much, it would seem…!! No new natural disasters, world economics still in a mess, and scant news about the preparations for the opening games and ceremonies connected to the World Cup…

I fell asleep wondering what the new day would bring to me here in Aswan…

©GBWT 2010