Aswan and Lake Nasser Places

Lake Nasser

Until a few decades ago, Lower Nubia, the area south of Aswan below the First Cataract, was much like the Nile Valley north of Aswan—save for the fact that the primary inhabitants were Nubian Egyptians, rather than Egyptians of Arab, Turkish, or Bedouin descent. As in Upper Egypt, Nubia's thin ribbon of green, fed by the Nile, was hemmed in by desert. Nubians cultivated their fields, and massive pharaonic monuments line the riverbanks.

The Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser put an end to that, of course, forcing the Egyptian Nubian population inhabiting the flooded areas to move downriver to areas around, and to the north of, Aswan. Many of the monuments from antediluvian Nubia were also relocated to higher ground, or salvaged and removed to foreign countries. Unfortunately, others could not be saved, and they were swallowed up by the waters of Lake Nasser—some were hastily excavated first, while the rest were submerged without a trace.

Except for Abu Simbel and Philae, the temples along the shores of Lake Nasser are less visited than those along the lower reaches of the Nile. It's possible to take a cruise on Lake Nasser to see many of these, and Kalabsha is reachable by boat from Aswan.