Nubian Houses

8/6/2019 Nubian Houses

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Between the banks of the River Nile in Upper Egypt, a small houses nests

on the island of Elephantine. Built with handmade mud bricks in thetraditional Nubian style with sand floors and a flat roof, and boasting one of

the best views on the Nile, its terrace is a spectacular spot to watch the sunsetting over the sand dunes of the west bank.

Your hosts, will be pleased to make you welcome. They serve drinks and

meals, provide basic accommodation, and will arrange sightseeing orrelaxing trips if you should wish.

From their beach you can take a felucca boat trip along the Nile to Edfu orcross over to the Tombs of the Nobles on the west bank then walk or go bycamel to St. Simoen Monastery and the Agha Khan's Mausoleum. If you

wish your boatman will wait to take you upstream to the First Cataracts andonto Kitchener's Island to enjoy the lush botanical gardens. Or you may

prefer to while away some hours watching the feluccas glide by andspotting birds on the river while sipping a cup of sweet tea or strong ginger

coffee on the terrace.

AccommodationThe house is clean and completely furnished, with a living room, a kitchen,

three bedrooms, a bathroom, a toilet and warm and cold running water. Andwho doesnt want to experience living in an African village just once in his

life? Here is your chance! Youll have a completely different holiday: thevillage people accept you as one of them; a local from West-Aswan instead

of a tourist. You do your own shopping in the village, cook by yourself ifyou like. Time is yours to discover Nubia all by yourself.

WomenThe Nubian House is a safe and comfortable place for women travelers,where they will be treated with respect. Please respect local customs and

dress modestly, covering your body from shoulders to knees.

Bird WatchingElephantine offers exceptional bird spotting. From the terrace of the NubianHouse, you may watch Green Heron among many other breeding and

migratory water birds such as the Egyptian Goose. Black Kite circleoverhead, having made the tower of the Oberoi Hotel a regular perch.

Amongst them, you may also spot a Lappet-faced or an Egyptian Vulture.


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The Unfinished Obelisk:It lies at the east south of the old cemetery in Aswan, and its height is 41.75metres, and its weight is 1168 tons. since the ancient times the most

important source of granite needed by the ancients to build up their temples,obelisk, their coffins, statues, pyramids and the like should go to Aswan as

the land of Granites.

Nobles' Tombs:They are engraved in the rocks of the west mountain in front of the north of

Aswan. They date back to the Old and Middle Kingdom. They werediscovered in 1885 and the most important of which are: Mekho, Sapti,

Khons, and Harkhok Historians discovered on the walls of these tombsinscriptions and writing through which they followed up the role played by

those nobles to protect the country, or the adventures they made to find outthe source of the Nile.

Philae Temple:The Philae island is at a distance of 3 km. at the south of Aswan Dam, and

it comprises a group of religious temples and buildings of various eras; they

are: Nkhtenbo Temple, west Arches, East Arches Arsniofis Temple,Emhotop Temple, Isis Great Temple, Churches, Hathor Temple, and KeshkTragan or Bed of pharaoh. After the set up of the High Dam, the water

overswept the island, and because of the significance of its temples,UNESCO in cooperation with Egypt rescued the temple and moved them to

a next island called "Egilco"; which is a rock island at a height of 30 metresabove the sea level. The project began in 1973 and ended in 1980 and the

tourists can enjoy the show of the Sound and Light program with differentlanguages supported.

KALABSHA TEMPLE:Its construction goes back to the reign of the Roman Emperor "OctaviusAugust" (39 b.c -14 b.c). It was moved from its first place on the west bankof the Nile, at a distance of 57km at the south of Aswan, and rebuilt near

the west of the High Dam in 1963. It is one of the biggest and mostbeautiful Nubian temples next to Abou Simbel Temple and most perfect

one with respect to the architectural elements of the ancient Egyptiantemples. It is built of sand rocks and on its walls there are important inscriptions and writingrepresenting the Egyptian deities, such as ISIS,OSORIS, AMON ... etc. This temple was for theworship of Nubian God


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"Menolis", yet there were private worship for Amon, Raa, khanoum, and

Betah.

Al Wali House Temple:It is one of the most beautiful temple engraved in the rocks in Nubia. It wasestablished by King Ramses the second, and was located at a distance of 57

km, at the south of the High Dam, but was moved and rebuilt at the west ofthe High Dam, next to Kalabsha Temple.

Abu Simbel Temple:They are the most important relics of Ramses the second (1290-1223 B.C)in Nubian, and are situated at a distance of 280 km from the south of

Aswan.They are engraved in the rocks, the big one is distinguished by four huge

statues of Ramses the second, the height of each is 20 metres, and it wasspecialized for the worship of God "Raa Hor Akhti" the God of the rising

sun. Inside the temple there is a hall carried on pillars engraved in rocksrepresenting the king in the form of Osoris. On its walls colored painting

portraying some battles launched by Ramses the second in Libya and Syria.At the end of the temple, there is a room of the Holy of Holies, in which

there are four statues, the first one belongs to the worshipped "Hor Akhti"

the second is of "Amoun Raa" the third of "Betah" and the fourth of theking Himself, as the worshipped God of the temple.There are also several side rooms, on which walls there are coloredinscriptions. Outside the temple, there are other relics, amongst which is the

famous painting portraying the story of the marriage of Ramses the secondwith the daughter of Hittites King.

The second temple is smaller than the first one. It is called "NefertariTemple", and at a little distance from built by Ramses the second for his

beautiful wife Nefertari. In front of its facade, there are statues engraved inrocks representing both of the king and the queen, the height of which is

about 10 metres.

Inside the temple, there are colored paintings on the walls portraying thequeen offering sacrifices to "Hathor".The water of the High Dam have overwhelmed the places of these two

temple like the other temples of Nubia.Hence, the world countries exerted a great effort to rescue these

monuments, as they participated through UNESCO in paying atexpenditures of a project based on breaking the rocks of these two temples

into parts, to be easy to move, then re-building them, as they were, on ahigh hill overlooking the banks of the lake, not far from the original place.


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KOM OMBO TEMPLE:It is situated in Kom Ombo City, overlooking the east bank of the Nile, at a

distance of 45 mk from the north of Aswan city.Its name in the Pharaonic era was "nebt" meaning the "Golden" then in the

Coptic was "Anbo", and in the Greek was "Anbos" from which the presentname was derived.

The city is famous of its dual temple devoted for the worship of Gods"sabk" and "Horo". It dates back to the Greek Roman era, and is

distinguished by its high position overlooking the River Nile, its wonderfulpillars, and the surrounding ruins of the old city.

It is the most beautiful temple of the Roman era in Egypt, where theEgyptian connected it with the Nile, hence its celebrations were held at the

time of Nile inundation.

EDFU TEMPLE:It lies in Edfu city at a distance of 123 km from the north of Aswan city,

and overlooks the west bank of the Nile. It dates back to the ptolomic eraand was specialized for the worship of God "Horus" It is one of the most

magnificent Egyptian temples, distinguished by the greatness ofconstruction and is a wonderful example of the Egyptian Temples in

keeping its general appearance.

Its construction began at the end of 237 b.c. during the reign of Ptolmy 111but the dissension, and bloody revolutions in Upper Egypt then, hinderedthe completion of work, till it ended in 42 b.c. after the passage of 180

years.On its walls there are inscriptions portraying the religion of the ancient

Egyptians and many details about their religious rituals and feasts.

The Botanical Island:It is situated midst of the Nile, and is a model garden on an area of 18

feddans, In addition to being an experimental station to acclimate the plantsand trees of the hot and tropical areas.

Anba Samaan Monastery:It is at a distance of 25 minutes from the Nile, and is the most importantChristian Antiquity in Egypt. It gives a full picture of the Coptic

Monasteries in their peak of fame, for it still preserves all its importantparts such as the church and houses of clergymen.... etc. Its establishment

dates back to the seventeen century and was destroyed in the thirteencentury.


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Aga Khan Mausoleum:It lies on the west bank of the Nile, was set up in the footsteps of the

Fatimid style and the mausoleum contains two tombs one for Him and theother is for his wife "Om Habiba" who entombed in 2000 and it comprises a

coffin of snow white marble containing the body of Aga Khan the third,leader of the Ismaelian Sect. Below the mausoleum there is the "Milanor of

Peace" for the residence of his wife "Om Habiba".

Aswan Dam:Its construction had begun before High Dam in 1898 and ended in 1902. It

was elevated for the first time in 1912, where the storage level of water was113 metres, then for the second time in 1930 as to store 5 billion cubic

metres and includes 180 openings with gates and 40 closed ones tocomplete its construction.

High Dam:"Egypt is the Gift of the Nile" said Herodetus the ancient Greek historian.This has been established fact over the ages, defying the changes of history.

The eternal River Nile has ever been the source of this gift. It can bestowgoodness here and there, when it floods in one year, while in another year

nothing but drought and privation may prevail. The High Dam will ever be

a Symbol of the struggle of the folks to construct a grand structure for theirpresent needs and future generations. The High Dam is a structure thatprovides numerous benefits paving the way towards the dignity growth andprosperity of Egypt. The High Dam has been considered the core of all

production projects in Egypt. It is one of architectural engineering miraclesof the twentieth century and is one of the biggest dams in the world. With

respect to its economic advantages the High Dam considered unique amongall the big irrigation projects in the world is unsurpassed in terms of its

return. Soon after the 1952 Revolution, the idea of constructing a HighDam in Aswan for high-level storage was brought up. Such a Dam would

guarantee supplying Egypt with the required annual discharges for

agricultural expansion and protecting the country from the peril of highfloods.

The High Dam Lake:It was composed of the storage water in front of the High Dam is one of the

biggest artificial lakes in the world . Its length is 500 km , and its widthaverage is 12km . The regional planning project of Aswan governorate pays

a great attention to the studies and researches conducted on the lake and theeconomical [profits of cultivating its banks, using them for touristic

purposes.


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The Tropical GardenThe project is situated on the Nile peninsula located at the north of AswanDam on 150 feddans out of which 85 feddans will be planted and divided to

squares , each will include plants from the same botanical families Anaverage of 40 square meters will be specified to establish an international

tropical garden . A certain acreage of 5000 to 10000 square meters will begiven for each country to establish its own garden with the addition and

establishment of artificial pools, fountains and the like.THE MOST SUITABLE FAMILIES BOTANICAL WHICH CAN FIT

THE DISTRICT CIRCUMSTANCES ARE FOLLOWS:

BIGNONIACEAE VERBENACEAE

MELIACEAE SALCACEAE

TAMARACEAE ANNONACEAE

MGRTACEAE BOMBACEAE

MAGNALEACEAE OLEACEAE

COMBRETACEAEEYPHORBIACEA

E

RHANNACEAE BORAGINACEA

E

CARICOCASE RUTACEAE

STERCULIACEAE APOCONACEAE

LEGUMINIACEAEANACORDIACE

AE

MORACEAE PALMACEAE

CYCADACEAREEYCTAGENACE

AE

PUNI CACEAE -

MARRIAGE AND BIRTH:Marriage in Nubia is responsibility of the parents but uncles share thisresponsibility Because kinship in Nubia is both patriarchal and matriarchal.

Marriage between cousins is favored and even obligatory at times .Marrying his cousin ( On the father's side) is a moral obligation for a young

man. The bride price in that case is much lower than what an outsiderwould have to pay. The exact amount varies in different tribes Presents and

money are given to both families to help with the expenses which are veryhigh for weddings are celebrated in large feasts to which all the village is

invited and some people from other villages. The Nile plays a prominent


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role in Nubian culture , the couple have to go down to the river on their

wedding night and wash in its water ,to ensure prosperity , good health andnumerous progeny When a male child is born , the birth is celebrated on the

7th day with the slaughter of a sheep or more , a recital of the Holy Quranand the boy is given a name . When the child is a female , they only invite

friends and go to the Nile bank where the baby is named.

NUBIAN ART AND ITS SYMBOLS:Nubian art reflects Nubian culture ; many of its symbols and motifs are

significant expressions of folk traditions and superstitions. They can be

seen in tattoos and wall paintings that decorated the facades and entrancehalls of many houses. These symbols recur in the designs of bead work andall kinds of baskets ,plates and mats ... etc Decorative motifs often carry a

moral or magic significance : a sword stands for courage and heroicachievements. Stars and crescent are Islamic symbols of good omen ,also

the black cat. Crows and owls carry bad omens . Roses and flowers ingeneral stands for friendship and love , the apple for feminine attraction ,

the tortoise for idleness , the chameleon for change and a pitcher and aprayer rug for purity and chastity

Nubian Houses

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