A Quarry and the Temple of Isis

 Sunday, February 15, 2026

A Quarry and the Temple of Isis

So much education today, focusing on the creation of statues and obelisks, and on the Byzantine repurposing of Egyptian temples into churches.

We began at a granite quarry which was the source of many obelisks and statues.  Researchers have been able to figure out many of the techniques used to build the enormous structures without the use of iron tools, which didn’t exist yet.  Much learning has come from this cracked, and thus abandoned, obelisk: 

And this unfinished statue: 

There’s a stone harder than granite called dolerite, and it was used to pound the rock and create the channels around the obelisk: 

The engineering was amazing, especially how these behemoth structures were moved; I don’t have the time or space to relate it all, but it’s available online.  After the quarry we visited the Aswan High Dam, which was built upstream from a much smaller British dam, creating a lake between the two dams: 

Here in Aswan there’s another temple, that of Philae (dedicated to Isis), which was already partially below water because of the British dam, and when the High Dam was built, it was moved to an island in the river, above the waterline.  We went to a completely chaotic pier where we got our boat to the island: 

Here’s the view from the water: 

There is an enormous colonnade from Roman times.  The colonnade looks Egyptian with papyrus column capitals and hieroglyphics, but its completion and decoration are from the Roman imperial times: 

It is a great lesson on how Rome ruled Egypt by adopting its religious and visual styles.  Later, during the Byzantine period (5-6th century CE), many temples were converted into churches, and the iconography was incorporated.  Here is a column circled by ankhs, with one of the ankhs replaced by a cross: 

And a gargoyle added for water management: 

The Byzantines likely are responsible for much defacement of the Egyptian wall carvings: 

OK.  I debated whether to include this next bit, but it’s so fascinating I have to.  There are huge numbers of Chinese tourists in Egypt, and they travel in very large groups.  But it doesn’t seem that they are interested in learning—only in taking photos.  Our guide, who is a lovely and gentle man, never has anything negative to say about anyone, but he is disdainful of the way the Chinese travel.  Photos, photos, photos.  And, a phenomenon:  There are many very attractive, slim, very nicely dressed young women who go from spot to spot posing in the style of glamor photographs and lots of others take pictures of them: 

At one site a young woman in a backless floor-length white dress (like the one in this photo) asked me to take a photo of her in front of a wall carving.  I took her phone and she walked into position, raised one arm, threw her head back and posed.  I took the photo.  She then asked for one more and one more, each of which was posed differently.  Clearly, I don’t get it.

We took our boat to another island where we had lunch at a lovely place: 

And we went back to the hotel to pack.  We’ll have a celebratory goodbye dinner tonight, and tomorrow we’ll end the Egypt part of the trip.  Kathy and I will fly to Cairo and connect to Amman, Jordan.  More then.

Comments

  1. xctravelerFebruary 22, 2026 at 6:02 PM

    In our travels we too have run into young women often Chinese taking multiple "glamour" shots of themselves just to show themselves and the place visited in the background. They do travel in throngs. When going to a buffet where there will be Chinese we have been cautioned to get to the table early because they will harvest everything in sight. We have witnessed this in many places.

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  2. Ralph P. LockeFebruary 24, 2026 at 2:19 PM

    Oh, I love tourist-watching. That's part of the fun of traveling. (And I suppose that people watch me as well....) I particularly remember a family (American, I think) whom I saw in, maybe, Switzerland, and they were dressed in the same fabric--the girls' dresses, the dad's shirt, etc. I have heard French or Italian people make fun of Germans, who walk through a city ticking off the sites in the Baedecker guidebook yet barely looking at the sites themselves. Oh, well. I wonder what people have thought about me, sometimes.....!

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