Upper Egypt - Lake Nasser and Aswan
Tour Factbox
£1,750 excl. flight
- Upper Egypt’s impressive temples
- Cruising the waters of Lake Nasser
- The impressive temples at Abu Simbel
Travelling comfortably by land and water, this relaxed tour seeks to unlock the treasures of Upper Egypt. Incorporating both world-renowned and lesser known sites, George Hart will bring to life this 4,000 year old civilisation, while discussing the race to save the most important historical sites of Lower Nubia as the waters of Lake Nasser rose.
Day 1 London/ Aswan – Arrive in Upper Egypt.
Day 2 Aswan - Visit the haunting Temple of Philae, sacred to the goddess Isis whose worship continued here until the sixth century AD. Marvel at the amazing engineering feats of the Aswan High Dam and the 1,000 ton ‘unfinished obelisk’, the largest ever cut in the ancient world.
Day 3 Aswan, West Bank – To the West Bank for the tombs of the Nomarchs, or Governors of Aswan. Afternoon excursion by boat to Elephantine Island.
Day 4 Aswan, Kom Ombo – Visit the unique double temple at Kom Ombo, dedicated to Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god. Continue to the new Crocodile Museum displaying amazingly preserved 2,000 year old mummified crocodiles. Afternoon visit to Aswan’s Nubian Museum.
Day 5 Lake Nasser – Transfer south to Lake Nasser to embark your ship, M/S Kasr Ibrim. Enjoy lunch on board followed by a visit to Kalabsha temple, the rock cut temple of Ramesses the Great from Beit el-Wali and the kiosk of Hathor from Qertassi.
Day 6 Lake Nasser - Sail to Wadi El Seboua, the site of three rescued ancient Egyptian temples, passing through the Tropic of Cancer.
Day 7 Lake Nasser - Morning visit to Ramesses the Great’s temple at Wadi El Seboua and the relocated Graeco-Roman temples of Dakka and Maharakka. Afternoon visit to the temple of Amada, the oldest Egyptian temple in Nubia, and the temple of Derr with its unusually vivid reliefs. Continue to the tomb of Penout before returning to the boat.
Day 8 Lake Nasser - Sail to Kasr Ibrim, the only major archaeological site in Lower Nubia not to have been flooded by the lake. Sail on to Abu Simbel to marvel at its two famous temples of Ramesses the Great and his queen Nefertari, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Evening Sound and Light show at the temples before final dinner on board.
Day 9 Abu Simbel/ London – Return toAbu Simbelfor sunrise. Disembark the boat and fly back to London via Cairo.
George Hart
George Hart was for over thirty years a staff lecturer in the Education Department of the British Museum, specialising in ancient Egypt, the Bronze Age and Classical civilisations of the Mediterranean.
A frequent visitor to the Nile Valley, he has written books on Egyptian myths and religion, the Pyramid Age and, most recently, on the Pharaohs. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Egypt Exploration Society.
Other tours led by this lecturer:
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