Elephantine Island
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 Nubia. 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
it's 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 it's principle god of the island, Khnum (Khnemu). It is
believed that the island received it's 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. One of
it's main attractions is it's Nilometer, which is one of only
three on the Nile, which was used to measure the water level of
the Nile as late as the nineteenth century. There has been an
ongoing excavation at the town for many years by the German
Archaeological Institute, and some of the finds along with many
other island artifacts, including a mummified ram of Khnum, are
located in the Elephantine Museum. Another major attraction is
the ruins of the Temple of Khnum. Elephantine Island was
considered to be home of this important Egyptian god, and while
this structure dates back to the Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th
Dynasty, there are references to a Temple of Khnum on the island
as early as the 3rd Dynasty. There are also ruins of a Temple of Satet, who was Khnum's female counterpart (the three local
deities were foremost Khnum, but also Satet and a local Nubian
goddess Anqet.
These gods were worshipped here since the
earliest dynasties), also build by Queen Hatshepsut, a shrine to
Hekayib from the 6th Dynasty, a local governor who was deified
after his death. His cult flourished during the middle kingdom,
and some fine statues from the shrine are now in the museum. You
will also find a 3rd Dynasty granite step pyramid which is now
just visible, and to the north, the mud-brick vaults of the late
period which housed the bodies of the royal rams. On the south
end of the island is a small one room Ptolemaic temple which was
constructed from materials removed from the Kalabsha Temple.
Here, there are decorations attributed to the Nubian Pharaoh
Arkamani from the 3rd century BC The building seems to have been
finished by the Romans with reference to Caesar Augustus.
Elephantine Island is a beautiful place to visit, with wonderful
gardens and some truly significant artifacts. It is also a good
place to spend some leisure time, wondering among the Nubian
villages where the people are friendly and the houses are often
very colorful. The houses often have paintings or carved with a
crocodile at the bottom, a fish in the middle and a man on top,
with a woman's hand made of brass as a door knocker between the
fish and man. Others will have a sacred black cube of Mecca,
with a painting depicting the means of the owner's pilgrimage to
Mecca. |