The modern city of Aswan lies to the east of Elephantine Island, while the pharaonic cemetery lies under the Dome of Eve to the west. Most sources say that Elephantine Island is located north of the first waterfall on the Nile. Since 1969, archaeological work has continued on Elephantine Island. The reconstructed Temple of Satis was built over one of the oldest shrines in Egypt, which was left in its original place. It is an excellent example of how modern restoration techniques save old buildings.
The southern part of the island was once known for its strategic importance and is now a popular tourist spot and a vast open-air museum with plenty of stairs and walkways. The southern part of the island was also an important military stronghold in the past.
In the extreme south of the island, there may be a lot of temples and tombs. This is how the island was created. One such temple is a temple to the goddess Satet, who was worshiped as the island’s patron saint. Since it was built in the Second Dynasty, this temple has been restored several times, including during the Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and Ptolemaic dynasties.
The island also contains the ruins of the temple of Khnum, the first god of the Nile waterfall, with a ram’s head. The island also includes the main terrace of a temple built during the Thirty-first Dynasty and the colossal gate that once stood here. These buildings are still in the same places where they were made. The Elephantine triad consists of these two deities and Anuket, the goddess of Sohail.
On the island’s west coast, you can find the Tomb of Righteousness, a high-ranking member of the Elephantine culture. The first place where al-Haq was buried was in a cemetery near Qubbat al-Hawa. His temple was filled with statues, monuments, tombs, and altars built for him by pharaohs and other critical Egyptians. Everyone in the Middle Kingdom believed in him very much.
This handy tool tracks the highest, lowest, and average water levels over time. Because of the tides, the water level rises and falls every day.
The stairs appear to be cut into the riverbank and may be on the island’s east side. All the stones that make up the steps are roughly the same size and shape. An inscription on the wall of the temple of Edfu says that when the river’s height reached 24 cubits and 3.5 hands, the water supply at Elephantine was sufficient for the whole country. This is what the hieroglyphs tell us. The Greek historian Plutarch says that at one time in history, the height of the Nile at Elephantine was 28 cubits (14.70 m). Since the arm length is the same as the length of the human forearm, it was measured. The components are made in metric sizes. The Nilometer displays readings going back to Roman times and even further back.
In 1870, Khedive Ismail installed the Nilometer himself. There are recordings of his music in French and Arabic. When it was clear that a new measuring scale had to be made, the old scale, which had not been used for a thousand years, was used to make the new scale. At the top and bottom of the stairs are Greek and Demotic inscriptions. These writings show how water can be at different levels.
During excavations on the island, a nilometer from the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of the Second Dynasty was found. This one-of-a-kind piece is not set by how high the floodwaters are above the low level but by how tall it is above farmland. This is because the calibration is based on how high the flood water is above the baseline.
After saving the Temple of Ptolemy from the rising waters of Kalabshi Island, it was moved to a safer location near the southern tip of the island, where it underwent several repairs. Mendez was a deity worshiped by the Nubians and had its structure. There was a statue of an elephant nearby, and it is the unofficial symbol of the region (found during excavations in Aswan).
Aswan’s first high dam was built on Elephantine Island, now the site of the Aswan Museum. The museum contains artifacts from Aswan and Nubia. Some Aswan artifacts have been found in and around the city. On display are many pieces of pre-dynastic art that were found in Nubia before the area was flooded. These things were made before the dynastic era. Also, you can look at things from the early and middle kingdoms.
The Hakaib Shrine is where these and many other items came from. Archaeologists found the bodies of a priest and a priestess from the island of Philae in the isle of Hessa, and the body of a sacred ram was also buried there. After mummification, these two people were looked at. Since 2011, when it was last opened, the museum has been closed. Please accept our most profound grief over this. When we get to the island, where the excavations are now, we will almost certainly find new things.
0 Comment