Aswan is the source of the granite used in all the ancient Egyptian temples. (It's about a two hour flight between Aswan and Cairo--which gives you an idea of the distance the large blocks were transported). We visited a quarry for pink granite--really beautiful stone. Ancient Egyptians started quarrying an obelisk and quit when they found flaws in the rock.
Quarrying was done by knocking small pieces of granite off to get a larger (or very large) block free. They also made holes and packed it with dry wood, then used water to make the wood expand.Visited the Temple of Philae in Aswan--it was on an island that was partially flooded by the first (British) Aswan dam. It was moved to a higher Island.
Cruising down the Nile you notice a haze on the horizon. This seems to be a combination of blowing sand and pollution.
On our way down the Nile (to the north), we stopped at Kom Obou--a temple dedicated to two gods--Haroeris and Sobek.
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