Facts About Aswan Governerate

The city of Aswan is the capital of the Aswan governorate in Egypt, Aswan was historically considered one of the most important cities in southern Egypt, and its southern gate, as it is located to the south of the first waterfall of the Nile River, which represented a natural boundary between Upper Egypt and Nubia. It is connected to Cairo by a railway line, desert and agricultural land roads, Nile boats, and local flights. It is one of the creative cities registered on the UNESCO list in the field of crafts and arts since 2005.

Naming,
In the ancient Egyptians ' times, Aswan was known as "sono," which meant "market," as it was a trading center for caravans coming to and from Nubia.

Then in the Ptolemaic era, it was called " sin "and the Nubians called it"yiba-Suan".

It was also known as the land of gold because it served as a great treasure or tomb for the Nubian kings who lived in it for thousands of years. The borders of Aswan stretched long before the migration from Asna in the east to the borders of Sudan in the south and its inhabitants were Nubians, but after the Islamic conquest of Nubia, some Arab tribes settled there.

History,

Aswan in 1857
The importance of Aswan began in the era of the Old Kingdom, as it marked the southern border of the country. It was also the center of the gathering of armies in the middle ages of the Kings to try to extend their rule South. She also played a decisive role in the fight against Hyksos. The island of Philae, the homeland of the goddess "Isis" also won the attention of the Ptolemies, who completed her large temple. The Romans also erected temples in the Pharaonic style to get closer to the Egyptians. An example of such a temples is a small temple on the island of Philae erected by Emperor Trajan.

When Christianity became the official religion of the country in the fifth century AD, most of the temples of the Pharaohs turned into churches, so the island of Philae was the center of one of the bishoprics, which led to the spread of Christianity south towards Nubia in Egypt and Sudan.

Since the spread of Islam and its emergence, many writings have been found in Kufic script dating back to the first century AH. Aswan flourished in the Islamic era in the tenth century AD as it was a route to the "ayyab" on the Red Sea coast, from where ships sailed to Hejaz, Yemen, and India. It was also an important cultural center in the sixth and seventh hijri centuries, and it had three schools, the oldest of which was the Aswan School, the Saifian School, and the Star School in Aswan.

Ancient times,
In it, Eratosthenes refuted the Flat Earth theory and made the first calculation of the circumference of the globe, taking Sien as a center and Alexandria as a terminal point to calculate the arc length between the two points and the angle of incidence of sunlight on both cities and through it by the circumference of the Earth. Eratosthenes relied on the orthogonality of the sun on the Tropic of Cancer (approximately passing by Aswan) on June 21.

Christianity came to Egypt in several ways, and the first apostle who came to Egypt was Bartholomew the Apostle before the year 60 AD Bartholomew came to Sono "Aswan" in 60 AD with Matthew the Apostle and Matthew set off from Sono to Abyssinia, and bartholemans set off from there to Armenia and came in 60 AD to Alexandria mark the apostle and founded the See of Mark and was killed there in 68 AD by the Pharaohs and the Greeks. One of the Saints who was born in Aswan is Anba Hadra the tourist.

Climate,
Aswan enjoys a hot desert climate like other parts of Egypt, Aswan and Luxor enjoy the hottest summer days of any city in Egypt. The average high temperatures are consistently above 40 degrees Celsius (104.0 degrees Fahrenheit) during the summer (June, July, August, and September as well) while the average low temperatures remain above 25 degrees Celsius (77.0 degrees Fahrenheit). Summer is long and very hot. Average high temperatures remain above 23 degrees Celsius (73.4 degrees Fahrenheit) during the coldest month of the year while average low temperatures remain above 8 degrees Celsius (46.4 degrees Fahrenheit). Winter is short and very warm. The winter is very pleasant while the summer is very hot with the scorching sun although the desert heat is very dry.

Aswan's climate is extremely dry all year round, with an average annual rainfall of less than 1 mm (0 in). The city is one of the driest in the world, precipitation does not occur every year, as of early 2001, the last rainfall was seven years ago. Aswan is one of the least humid cities on the planet, with an average relative humidity of only 26%, an average maximum of 42% during winter, and an average minimum of 16% during summer.

The weather in Aswan is bright and sunny all year round, in all seasons, with a low seasonal variation, with almost 4000 hours of sunshine per year.

The highest record temperature was 51 degrees Celsius (124 degrees Fahrenheit) on July 4, 1918, and the lowest record temperature was -2.4 degrees Celsius (27.7 degrees Fahrenheit) on January 6, 1989.

Religion,
Like other cities in Egypt, most of the residents of Aswan profess Islam on the doctrine of Ahl al-Sunnah and Jama'a according to its schools of jurisprudence and Sufi methods, and there are some of them Christians, most of whom are Coptic Orthodox.

Aswan Courts Complex,
Within the framework of the State Council's plan to bring the litigation body closer to citizens and remove the burdens and hardships of travel from the shoulders of litigants, a complex of Courts of the State Council and the administrative judiciary was inaugurated and put into operation in order to complete the preparatory work, which is an important addition for Aswan citizens, members of the judiciary and lawyers to reduce the burdens and hardships of traveling from them to adjudicate cases before these courts, especially that the nearest branches of these courts are located between 300 km to 600 km, which contributes to facilitating the people of the governorate and the speed of adjudication of lawsuits and administrative cases to reflect positively on the public, as well as government agencies and helps preserve public money which will come where the headquarters will be connected Aswan courts are connected to the public electronic network of the State Council to facilitate access to data on litigants, members of the judiciary and lawyers.

Tourism,

The city of Aswan and its surroundings are considered a tourist and archaeological area, where the number of foreign tourists, especially from Europe and East Asia, is increasing, and one of its most important tourist attractions is:

Fantine island,
It is an island located off the city of Aswan, known in Egyptian texts as "Abu", meaning elephant tooth, and became in the Greek Fantine, where it is believed that it was once a center of ivory trade. the island includes the temple of Khnum, along with the presence of the Nile scale, the Tomb of the Holy RAM, the gate of King Amenhotep II, and the trinity of Satt and Ant.

Mausoleum of the Aga Khan,
It is located on a plateau on the West Bank of the Nile River opposite the southern part of the Botanical Garden, and Aga Khan III built it at the request of the governor of Aswan at the time to buy the area where he was treated, and the governor of Aswan agreed to the request, so the Aga Khan brought engineers, architects and workers to build him a luxurious tomb of limestone and marble and buried in 1959 based on his will and this cemetery inspired by the design of the Egyptian Fatimid tombs.

Philae island,
It is an island in the middle of the Nile River and is one of the strongest fortresses along the southern borders of Egypt, separating the Nile into two opposite channels in Aswan, it had an elephant temple and moved from its original place on Philae Island and assembled on agelika island, following the construction of the High Dam.

This temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, which was flooded by the waters of the Nile, was divided and reassembled in a new location above the island of agilika, about 500 meters from its original place on Philae Island, and its buildings include the temple of Hathor, and the visitor can watch the sound and light show at night, which is presented in different languages.

Al-Hawa Dome,
It is a rocky mountain located on the West Bank of the Nile near Aswan. The height of this mountain is about 130 meters and it has carved tombs of the nobles and priests of Aswan from the era of the ancient Egyptians. Also located on the Southern top of the mountain is the Tomb of one of the Muslim patriarchs named "Sidi Ali ibn al-Hawa", after whom the dome is named. It is a white-domed mausoleum seen from afar, and below it are the remains of a Coptic monastery (St. George).

The high carved tombs can be reached from two inclined roads towards the Nile on the eastern side, and two straight temples for the ascent and descent of groups of people, each with two stone walls. The tombs of the ancient Egyptian nobles are located in three tiers at a height in the center of the mountain. The number of tombs from the era of the ancient Egyptians exceeded 100 tombs and about 1000 people were buried there men, women, and children; most of them date back to the era of the Old Kingdom and the modern state.

Abu Simbel,
 It is one of the sites of the" Monuments of Nubia " included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites. Which starts from the direction of the river flow from Abu Simbel to Philae (near Aswan).

The construction of the temple complex began in about 1244 BC and lasted for about 21 years, the temple was forgotten until 1813 when the Swiss Orientalist G. L. Burkhardt found the main temple promenade and then began the rescue of the Abu Simbel temples in 1964, the process cost 40 million dollars. Between 1964 and 1968, the whole site was cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons and an average of 20 tons), dismantled, and reinstalled in a new location at an altitude of 65 M and 200 m above the river level, considered by many to be one of the greatest works of archaeological engineering. 

West Sohail,

It is one of the Nubian communities in the city of Aswan and is located above a sandy foot west of the Nile River, the village was established about a hundred years ago, when the old Aswan reservoir was built in 1902, and its first construction in 1912, and the village's name is due to its location west of Suhail island

Symbol of Egyptian-Soviet friendship,
The symbol of friendship in the form of an open lotus flower consisting of 5 leaves, implemented by the Egyptian reinforced cement company, and the designer of the friendship symbol chose the lotus flower because of its sacredness to the ancient Egyptians, which is represented in its ascent above the surface of the water, opening its five leaves at sunrise, closing it at sunset and diving into the water again to live and promote their country to the ranks it deserves, Egypt under the leadership of the late leader Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to seek help from Moscow.

Island of plants,
It is one of the most important tourist attractions in the city of Aswan, and it is one of the oldest Gardens in the world. the island of plants was built on an area of 17 acres, and it was divided into 7 sectors of rare and perennial plant life, for which favorable climatic conditions are created by plastic greenhouses. the Aswan Botanical Garden is located on an entire island. Containing many rare trees and plants, Flora Island has witnessed the visit of many prominent historical figures, perhaps the most important of them: Nehru, Prime Minister of India, Joseph Tito, President of Yugoslavia, as well as Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain.

Cataract Hotel,
It was built on a pink granite rock overlooking the banks of the Nile in front of Fantasy Island, and this hotel is characterized by its legendary Oriental character in the field of hotels since it was opened in 1889 the idea of building the hotel began in the late 19th century with the extension of the railway to the south of Egypt, as the number of tourists increased to visit the city of Aswan and enjoy the effects of its sunny winter atmosphere, and with the increase in numbers, the thought of building hotels on the banks of the Nile in Aswan began to be built in 1899 in the Victorian style, where the English character was often in the architectural style of this the period, in which the English occupied Egypt.

Tabiya mosque,
The origin of the name is due to the area where the mosque was erected. The history of Tabiya dates back to the beginning of the 19th century, when a military Tabiya was built on it to be the headquarters of the first Military College in Egypt, and it is one of the two military Tabias in Aswan that were established during the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha, and most of them have been demolished by time. The mosque was started to be built during the reign of President Gamal Abdel Nasser and was opened during the reign of President Anwar Sadat.

Nubia Museum,
The Museum of Nubia was opened in November 1997, and the opening ceremony was attended by the presidents of several friendly countries that participated in the rescue of the Antiquities of Nubia and displayed more than 5000 artifacts from the Antiquities of Ancient Nubia. the architecture of the museum was designed by the Egyptian engineer Mahmoud al-Hakim and the design came in harmony with the surrounding environment of the rocks and hills and the nature of the bright and hot sun of the city of Aswan.

Fatimid tombs,
The tribal cheese is located in Aswan on Aswan Reservoir road next to the Nubia museum, while the Marine cheese is located in the Anani area, and The Shape of the domes in the Fatimid tombs is characterized by the presence of eight opposite sides of the dome from the outside of what is known as the centuries. the domes in the Fatimid cheese date back to the fourth century AH.

The missing obelisk,
 It is located in the northern part of a quarry there, located near Aswan on the eastern shore of the Nile and about 1 km east of the Nile River. The height of the obelisk would have reached about 7 and 41 meters, its cross section at its base is 2 and 4 meters by 2 and 4 meters, and its weight when completed reaches about 1168 tons.it is believed that the work on it was started during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut to put it "transported" and erected in the temple of Karnak in Luxor. After the ancient Egyptian workers dug the obelisk from three sides, in preparation for removing it from the piles and completing its processing, they discovered a crack in it that made it unusable. The workers stopped completing it.

Aswan Museum,
The museum was opened to visitors on January 10, 2016, in the presence of the prime minister, the minister of irrigation, and representatives of 11 African countries from the Nile Basin countries, where the cost of establishing the Nile museum reached 82 million pounds, the museum is located on an area of 146 thousand square meters, of which one thousand square meters was allocated from Aswan governorate, the rest from the to a general location that includes the area of the eye stream and green areas.

Aswan Museum (Elephantine Island Museum),
The museum includes a lot of statues of kings and individuals, some mummies of the ram, the symbol of the God "Khnum", various types of pottery, architectural and decorative elements, several sarcophagi, tools of everyday life, and some funerary paintings. In recent years, the German expedition excavating in Elephantine, in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has established an annex to the ancient museum located to the north of it, which includes some of the antiquities found by the expedition during its excavations, which took place for many years on the island.

The museum also includes a park, caves carved with petroglyphs, Islamic-style minarets, a Nubian house surrounded by a lake, the temple of the goddess Satt, the temple of real IP, and a scale of the Nile.

Aswan University,
The Aswan University Branch was established as a branch of Assiut University in 1974.in 1995, the president of the Republic issued Decision No. 23 to establish South Valley University. the university branch became affiliated with South Valley University with the establishment of three faculties (social work - Arts - Engineering). In 2012, the president of the Republic issued Decision No. 311 to establish Aswan University as an independent Egyptian State University.

Arab Academy for Science, technology, and Maritime Transport,
In August 2005, the Aswan governorate invited the academy to establish a branch in Aswan to be a center for advancing human development in the southern Valley region, which includes governorates (Aswan, Luxor, Qena, Sohag, Assiut, Minya, the Red Sea, and the New Valley). The governorate allocated the guest house attached to the hotel school to serve as the initial headquarters of the branch, with the allocation of the adjacent land with an area of 3250 square meters to establish the permanent headquarters of the branch. The study started in October 2006.

The permanent headquarters of the South Valley branch is located in a privileged location at the southern entrance to the city of Aswan. The Academy aims to provide the highest quality in education, scientific research, and community service, and to play a leading role in the development of the South Valley region as one of the most important educational institutions in the Arab world.

Al-Azhar University,
The Faculty of Islamic Studies of Benin, which was established by Ministerial Decree No. 300 on August 8, 1989, is located in the Sheikh Haroun area and contains various departments of the origins of religion (interpretation and Sciences of the Koran, Hadith, and its Sciences, doctrine, and philosophy) and Islamic law (jurisprudence, origins of jurisprudence, comparative jurisprudence).

Al-Azhari Girls College in Aswan, which includes other cultural disciplines besides sharia sciences in the West Aswan area, is affiliated with the West Aswan Al-Azhari Institute, as it consists of a ground floor and 4 floors, including 3 classrooms with an area of 150 m2 each, along with classrooms for all departments, in addition to an administrative building consisting of two administrative offices, libraries, restrooms, and a mosque.

High Dam,
It is a water dam on the Nile River in southern Egypt, established during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser and was helped by the Soviets in its construction. The dam has greatly helped to control the flow of water and mitigate the effects of the flooding of the Nile. It is used to generate electricity in Egypt. The length of the dam is 3600 meters, the width of the base is 980 meters, the width of the top is 40 meters, and the height is 111 meters. The volume of the dam's body is 43 million cubic meters of cement, iron, and other materials, and a water flow of up to 11,000 cubic meters of water per second can pass through the dam. The construction of the dam began in 1960 and the total cost was estimated at one billion dollars, a third of which was written off by the USSR. The dam was built by 400 Soviet experts and completed in 1968. The last 12 generators were installed in 1970 and the dam was officially opened in 1971.

Lake Nasser,
It is the largest artificial lake in the world, located in southern Egypt south of the city of Aswan, and north of Sudan. The name Lake Nasser is given to the largest part located within the borders of Egypt and represents 83% of the total area of the lake, while the remaining part located within the borders of Sudan is called Lake Nuba. Formed as a result of the water pooling behind the High Dam after its construction (which lasted from 1958 to 1970), it was named Nasser Lake after the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

Aswan reservoir,
It differs from a high dam. Work on its creation began in the city of Aswan in southern Egypt in the period between 1899 and 1906. Its foundation stone was laid by the Khedive Abbas Hilmi II and opened during his reign. The Aswan Reservoir is 946 kilometers away from the Delta aqueducts known as charity aqueducts. The old Aswan Dam was the first dam to be built of this size and the largest dam built in the world at that time. Then it was upgraded in 1912; then the second upgrade in 1926 to reserve water during the Nile flood, where the water is discharged in the quantities necessary for irrigation during the burning period. The reservoir is 2141 meters long and 9 meters wide with 180 gates, it is built of granite stone available in the region. The water flowing from it was exploited to operate two power plants, namely the Aswan First generating Station and the Aswan Second generating Station. With the construction of a road it connecting the eastern and Western banks of the Nile.

Transportation,
Stagecoach
One of the oldest means of transportation in the city and part of the parts of the civilized and aesthetic appearance in front of tourist regiments, visitors, and citizens.

Aswan railway station,
In 1898, the construction of the third railway line from Cairo to Luxor was started by the Qena Aswan company to extend the railway line to the southernmost city of Aswan for Railways.

After the British entered Sudan in 1899, the occupation authorities decided to modify the train line from Luxor to Aswan and then the first waterfall in the far south of Egypt to become a natural extension of the railway network in Egypt. This project was completed in 1926 when the line was extended to Wadi Halfa within the Sudanese border.

The Aswan railway station was developed in August 2017 to be a civilized interface for Aswan tourism, where the development and upgrading of the entire station in Aswan, which was carried out by the military Works Department of the Engineering Authority of the Armed Forces during a whole year, included the development of 4 sidewalks, in addition to five new "windows" for booking tickets to reduce the long queues that were standing in front of three windows since the station was established, and the development of all administrative offices inside.

A tunnel was also built passing under the four platforms of the station, and two exits on the East and west sides, in addition to providing the booking hall with an electronic screen on which the departure and arrival dates of trains are recorded, and also artistic paintings were placed expressing the tourist and archaeological sights that Aswan is famous for.

Health,

Aswan University Hospitals,
It is a group of university hospitals affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine, Aswan University in the AL-Seel area of Aswan city.

Magdy Yacoub Foundation for Heart Research,
It is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides free world-class medical services to the less fortunate in Egypt and throughout the region in the field of cardiovascular diseases through its Aswan Heart Center.