Gebel al-Silsila is a mountainous region with sandstone quarries on both sides of the Nile. The sandstone quarries of Gebel al-Silsila have been used from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2034–1650 BC) until the 20 th  century. More than a hundred quarries were exploited to extract the sandstone blocks needed to construct many of ancient Egypt’s famous temples. The quarries have preserved tool marks and workers’ inscriptions that can be seen today. The close up picture below is the qua

When approaching the temple, the first thing you notice is that the temple still stands on the original ground level, whereas the modern town rises 9 meters higher, on top of the remnants of the ancient town and its descendants, which have grown up around the temple over the last 2,000 years. There is no proof of the village of Esna and its temple prior to the Middle Kingdom, but from this point on, there are source materials up to the end of ancient Egyptian history. In Grae

We spent five days on the Nile with a group of 16 friends celebrating a milestone birthday. The ship we took was on one of the Nour El Nil beautiful boats. You choose to take these boats because they are just that much more authentic. Our room and bed were comfortable, but the bathroom took a bit of getting used to because the space is multipurpose as it is your shower, toilet and sink all in a tight space, but the water was hot and that is really all we needed. The crew was

The Temple of Dendera is undeniably one of the most beautiful and remarkably well-preserved temples in Egypt, standing as a testament to the architectural and artistic achievements of ancient Egyptian civilization. Located in the small town of Dendera, the temple is dedicated to the goddess Hathor, who is revered as the goddess of love, beauty, music, and motherhood. The Dendera temple is very close to Luxor, which is often considered the heart of ancient Egypt due to its pro