Sehel Island | Ankh | The Island of Sehel is about 4km south of Aswan, in the Nile to the north of the old Aswan Dam. In ancient times travellers on their way to Nubia, or who had just returned from an expedition to the south, would make a pilgrimage to the sacred Sehel island and leave inscriptions recording their appeals or prayers of gratitude for help in safely...
The Ramesseum is the memorial temple of the great warrior king Ramesses II. One of the largest and best-preserved of these temples, this “Mansion of Millions of Years” contains the fallen colossus that inspired Percy Bysshe Shelleys poem, Ozymandias. Scenes from the king’s great Battle of Qadesh (in which only Ramesses II’s personal valor...
The Temple of Ptah is one of the most remarkable landmarks in ancient Egypt, dedicated to the god Ptah, the deity of craftsmen and creation. Located in the heart of Memphis, the temple served as a central religious and cultural hub, attracting pilgrims and rulers alike. Understanding the significance of the Temple not only unveils ancient Egyptian religious practices...
Tell El Amarna is the site of the short-lived city of Akhetaten (“Horizon of the Aten”), founded by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten as his new capital. The city was central in the king’s vision to replace the traditional state religion, with Amu-Re as its chief god, by the cult of the Aten, the sun disc. At Tell El Amarna , Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti...
Abdeen Palace Museum | Ankh | Abdeen Palace Museum is a palace in central Cairo, Egypt. It was one of the palaces of the former Egyptian royal family, the descendants of Mohamed Ali. It was built by Khedive Ismail, though he never actually lived in it. Construction of Abdeen Palace started in 1863 and continued for 10 years but the palace was officially inaugurated...
Ahmed Shawki Museum is in recognition of the great Poet-Laureate Ahmed Shawki, which houses a wide collection of more than 713 manuscripts and drafts, a collection of oil paintings, antique objects and photographs of the poet and his family. Traditionally, a museum is known to be a place where objects of antique and historical nature are displayed. However, the...
Nubian Museum | Ankh | The area of Egypt we now call Nubia follows the River Nile from Aswan, 350km south to the town of Dabba, near the Fourth Cataract and the Sudanese border. It is thought that the name Nubia may be derived from the ancient Egyptian word for gold, ‘nbu’, as it was from this land that Egypt obtained most of its rich source of gold and...
Temple of Hathor | Ankh | The large temple complex that dominates the site of Dendara was one of the principal cult centers of the goddess Hathor. It contains a large number of structures from different periods of Egyptian history, but most prominent today is the Greco-Roman Temple of Hathor, which was largely constructed between 54 and 29 BC. Visitors can wander the...
The museum of Islamic art in Cairo is truly a wonderful reservoir of Islamic antiquities. It has a vast supplement of about 10200 artifacts that one cannot explore in a single day. The museum displays arts from the different Islamic eras that Egypt passed through including the Fatimid, Turkish and Persian periods. Museum Of Islamic Art The Present Museum opened at...