Aswan

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Nefertari’s Temple of Hathor is located in Abu Simbel a small place in Egypt located close to the border of Sudan. Nefertari’s Temple of Hathor of Egypt is among one of the two temples built to honor female group in Egypt. The other temple is in Luxor that was build for honoring Queen Hatshepsut

Nefertari’s Temple of Hathor consists of only one hypostyle hall and a rock cut sanctuary. The hall of the temple had images of Ramesses with wife Nefertari in battlefield. Just behind the hall, is located a small chamber that had images of Hathor cow framed in reeds. Just beyond this chamber is the sanctuary of Hathor’s Temple. The front wall of the sanctuary contain carved image of an emerging divine cow from the wall protecting Ramesses. The other images at the sanctuary show various scenes of Nefertari offering incense to Mut and Hathor

Elephantine Island is the largest of the Aswan area islands, and is one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, with artifacts dating to predynastic periods. This is probably due to its location at the first Cataract of the Nile, which provided a natural boundary between Egypt and Nubian. As an island, it was also easily defensible. In fact, the ancient town located in the southern part of the island was also a fortress through much of its history. At one time, there was a bridge from the mainland to the island.

Elephantine is Greek for elephant. In ancient times, the Island, as well as the southern town, was called Abu, or Yabu, which also meant elephant. The town has also been referenced as Kom, after its principle god of the island, Khnum (Khnemu). It is believed that the island received its name because it was a major ivory trading center, though in fact, it was a major trading post of many commodities. There are large boulders in the river near the island which resembled bathing elephants, particularly from afar, and this too has been suggested as a reason for the island’s name.

The island is very beautiful, and while many of the artifacts there are in ruin, there is still considerable to see.

Information taken from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia.

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