Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of theAswan Dam on the east bank of theNile at thefirst cataract. The city was the southern frontier ofAncient Egypt. Aswan's local quarries suppliedgranite to many ancient Egyptian monuments, and these quarries are still operating today.[9][10] The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island ofElephantine. Aswan is considered a global tourist winter destination.[11][12]
The city is part of theUNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art.[14] Aswan joined the UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2017.
Aswan is the ancient city ofSwenett, later known asSyene, which in antiquity was the frontier town ofAncient Egypt facing the south.Swenett is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name.[17] This goddess later was identified asEileithyia by the Greeks andLucina by the Romans during their occupation of Ancient Egypt because of the similar association of their goddesses with childbirth, and of which the import is "the opener". The ancient name of the city also is said to be derived from theEgyptian symbol for "trade",[18] or "market".[19]
Because theAncient Egyptians oriented themselves toward the origin of the life-giving waters of the Nile in the south, and as Swenett was the southernmost town in the country,Egypt always was conceived to "open" or begin at Swenett.[17] The city stood upon a peninsula on the right (east) bank of theNile, immediately below (and north of) the first cataract of the flowing waters, which extended to it fromPhilae. Navigation to the delta was possible from this location without encountering a barrier.
Thestone quarries of ancient Egypt located here were celebrated for their stone, and especially for the granitic rock calledsyenite. They furnished the colossal statues,obelisks, and monolithic shrines that are found throughout Egypt, including thepyramids; and the traces of the quarrymen who worked (alongside domesticated draft animals) in these 3,000 years ago are still visible in the native rock. They lie on either bank of theNile, and a road, 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in length, was cut beside them from Syene toPhilae.
View from the west bank of the Nile, islands, and Aswan
TheNile is nearly 650 m (0.40 mi) wide above Aswan. From this frontier town to the northern extremity of Egypt, the river flows for more than 1,200 km (750 mi) without bar orcataract. The voyage from Aswan toAlexandria usually took 21 to 28 days in favorable weather.
In September 2018, the Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany announced that a sandstonesphinx statue had been discovered at the temple of Kom Ombo. The statue, measuring approximately 28 cm (11 in) in width and 38 cm (15 in)) in height, probably dates to thePtolemaic Dynasty.[32][33][34]
Qustul Incense Burner, excavated from a royal Nubian tomb inLake Nasser, considered among the earliest representations of the White Crown Hedjet in Upper Egypt.[35]
Archaeologists discovered 35 mummified remains of Egyptians in a tomb in Aswan in 2019. Italian archaeologistPatrizia Piacentini and El-Enany both reported that the tomb, where the remains of ancient men, women and children were found, dates back to theGreco-Roman period between 332 BC and 395 AD. While the findings assumed belonging to a mother and a child were well preserved, others had suffered major destruction. Other than the mummies, artifacts including painted funerary masks, vases of bitumen used in mummification, pottery and wooden figurines were revealed. Thanks to thehieroglyphs on the tomb, it was detected that the tomb belongs to a tradesman named Tjit.[36][37][38]
Piacentini commented "It's a very important discovery because we have added something to the history of Aswan that was missing. We knew abouttombs andnecropoli dating back to the second and third millennium, but we didn't know where the people who lived in the last part of the Pharaonic era were. Aswan, on thesouthern border of Egypt, was also a very important trading city".[36][37][38]
Stan Hendrick,John Coleman Darnell and Maria Gatto in 2012 excavated petroglyphic engravings from Nag el-Hamdulab in Aswan which featured representations of a boat procession, solar symbolism and the earliest depiction of theWhite Crown with an estimated dating range between 3200BC and 3100BC.[39]
In February 2021, archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced significant discoveries at an archaeological site called Shiha Fort in Aswan, namely aPtolemaic period temple, a Roman fort, an early Coptic church and an inscription inhieratic script. According toMostafa Waziri, the crumbling temple was decorated with palm leaf carvings and an incomplete sandstone panel that described a Roman emperor. Researcher Abdel Badie states more generally that the church contained ovens used to bake pottery, four rooms, a long hall, stairs, and stone tiles.[40][41]
In July 2024, a joint Egyptian–French archaeological expedition conducting an underwater photographic survey between the oldAswan Dam and the Aswan High Dam uncovered a trove of rock carvings,stelae, inscriptions, and miniature royal images submerged in the Nile near Aswan. The discoveries include representations ofNew Kingdom pharaohsAmenhotep III andThutmose IV andLate Period rulersPsamtik II andApries. Initial research suggests these finds, dating back to theEighteenth Dynasty (c. 1550–1295 BC) through theLate Period (c. 747–332 BC), may shed new light on shifting political and religious practices in southern Egypt. These artifacts were initially discovered during the Nubian Monuments Rescue Campaign in the 1960s.[42]
In June 2025, archaeologists announced the discovery of threeOld Kingdom tombs at theQubbet el-Hawa necropolis. The tombs, dated to the late6th Dynasty (circa 2300–2100 BCE), consist of vertical shafts, small courtyards, false doors, offering tables, and pottery vessels. Human remains were also recovered, with evidence suggesting that the tombs were later reused during theMiddle Kingdom. Although some of the tombs lacked inscriptions, they still exhibited traditional burial architecture and customs, which, according to the archaeologists, may indicate that the individuals buried there had limited economic means.[43][44]
Thelatitude of the city that would become Aswan – located at 24° 5′ 23″ – was an object of great interest to the ancient geographers and mathematicians.[45] They believed that it was seated immediately under thetropic, and that on the day of thesummer solstice, a vertically positioned staff cast no shadow.[45] They noted that the sun's disc was reflected in a deep well (or pit) at noon.[45] This statement is only approximately correct.[45] At the summer solstice, the shadow was only1⁄400 of the staff, and so could scarcely be discerned, and the northern limb of the Sun's disc would be nearly vertical.[citation needed] Around 240 BC, Greek polymathEratosthenes used this information to calculateEarth's circumference.[45]
Aswan has ahot desert climate (Köppen climate classificationBWh) like the rest of Egypt. Aswan andLuxor have the hottest summer days of any city inEgypt. Aswan is one of the hottest, sunniest and driest cities in the world. Average high temperatures are consistently above 40 °C (104.0 °F) during summer (June, July, August and also September) while average low temperatures remain above 25 °C (77.0 °F). Average high temperatures remain above 23 °C (73.4 °F) during the coldest month of the year while average low temperatures remain above 8 °C (46.4 °F). Summers are very prolonged and extremely hot with blazing sunshine although desert heat is dry. Winters are brief and pleasantly mild, though nights may be cool at times.
The climate of Aswan is extremely dry year-round, with less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of average annual precipitation. The desert city is one of the driest ones in the world, and rainfall does not occur every year; in early 2001, the last rain in Aswan had been seven years earlier. When heavy precipitation does occur, as in a November 2021 rain and hail storm, flash flooding candrive scorpions from their lairs to deadly effects.[46] Aswan is one of the least humid cities on the planet, with an average relative humidity of only 26%, with a maximum mean of 42% during winter and a minimum mean of 16% during summer.
The weather of Aswan is extremely clear, bright and sunny year-round in all seasons, with low seasonal variation and almost 4,000 hours of annual sunshine – very close to the maximum theoretical sunshine duration. Aswan is one of the sunniest places on Earth.
The highest record temperature was 51 °C (124 °F) on July 4, 1918, and the lowest record temperature was −2.4 °C (27.7 °F) on January 6, 1989.[47]
Climate data for Aswan (1991–2020, extremes 1918–present)
In 2012, theAswan University was inaugurated, which is headquartered in the city. Aswan is also home to the Aswan Higher Institute of Social Work, which was established in 1975.
^Hofmann, Inge (1986).Nubisches Wörterverzeichnis: Nubisch-deutsches und deutsch-nubisches Wörterverzeichnis nach dem Kenzi-Material des Samuel Ali Hisen (1863–1927). Bonn: Academia Richarz. p. 49.
^ab"Station Aswan" (in French). Meteo Climat.Archived from the original on July 13, 2019. RetrievedApril 26, 2017.
^"Asswan Climate Normals 1991–2020".World Meteorological Organization Climatological Standard Normals (1991–2020). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived fromthe original on 27 August 2023. Retrieved27 August 2023.
^"Asswan Climate Normals 1961–1990".World Meteorological Organization Climatological Reference Normals (1961–1990). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Archived fromthe original on 27 August 2023. RetrievedJanuary 30, 2015.
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