10
OLD CAIRO
Discover the narrow
alleyways of Coptic Cairo
– the final stage of ancient
Egypt that can be characterised
by its Christian faith. Visit the
Christian Quarter of Cairo, the
Coptic Museum, which holds the
largest collection of Christian artifacts
in the world and is built on the ruins of
the Roman Babylon Fort. Old Cairo is
also home to the Ben Ezra Synagogue,
originally a Coptic church until it was
sold to the Jewish community.
DISCOVERING ASWAN
e Aswan High Dam is a
masterpiece of engineering that
protects the Nile's surrounding
fields. A modern undertaking
finalised in the 1960s, its
damming established the
300-mile-long Lake Nassar
which now provides electricity
and water for all Egypt.
THE VILLAGE OF ESNA
A charming town off the beaten
track that offers its own fascinating
quirks. Along the waterfront sit
quintessential 19th-century houses
with traditional mashrabiya – wooden
lattice screens. Esna was once the site
of Latopolis, and its ancient temple remains, devoted
to the guardian of the source of the Nile, Khnum.
The temple is thought to be one of the last built
by the Egyptians, and it is here visitors will find the
last-known hieroglyphic inscriptions recorded by the
Roman emperor Dios in 250AD. Towering columns
are still adorned with intricate carvings that tell
Khnum's story.
THE TEMPLE OF HORUS
This particular temple was built in Edfu, on the west bank of the Nile, during the Ptolemaic
Dynasty. Totally submerged by desert sands for two centuries, the temple remains one of the
best preserved of all Egypt's temples. A shrine to the falcon-headed god of light, the entrance
is flanked by two falcon statues. Inside, you'll spot a colonnaded courtyard, hieroglyphics and
rows of lotus columns. The stairway to the roof was once used in the annual New Year's festival
when priests carried a statue of Horus so it could be revitalised by the year's first sun.
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