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Cruising in Egypt
A first time visitor to Egypt wanting to discover the ancient history of the country would do well to book a Nile or a lake Nasser (or both) cruise, as this was historically (for the Nile) the way to visit the temples and tombs located along the river. Cruising along the Nile, whose banks are lined with ancient villages, temples, cotton fields and date palms, all unchanged since biblical time, is meeting with the kings, queens and gods of a civilization that goes back 6,000 year.
Besides, they also allow the tourist to gain a prospective of rural Egypt, where people live much the same way they did even thousands of years ago, in mudbrick homes, tending their fields with wooden plows and moving produce via donkey. What better way to experience such ancient history? An exciting array of floating hotels are there to accommodate groups of all sizes, offering updated amenities, such as air conditioning, swimming pools, shops and comfortable surroundings along with the ancient appeal of the scenery itself.
The Nile
The Nile is the longest river in the world, stretching north for approximately 4,000 miles from East Africa to the Mediterranean. Three rivers formed the Nile flowing from the south and serving as its sources: the Blue Nile, the White Nile and the Arbara. Along most of its length through Egypt, the Nile has cut a a canyon in the desertic plateau running 660 miles long with a floodplain occupying over 4,000 square miles. The Nile ends in a large delta that empties into the Mediterranean Sea spanning some 8,500 square miles, extending about 200 kilometers from south to north and about 400 kilometers from east to west.
Iteru, meaning simply River, as the Egyptians called it, was an unending source of sustenance and provided a crucial role in the development of Egyptian civilization, making the land close to its banks extremely fertile when it flooded each year. So significant was the River to the lifestyle of the Egyptians, that a god, Hapy, was created to oversee the welfare of the Nile’s annual inundation and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding of its waters. The Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote that ‘Egypt was the gift of the Nile’ and, in effect, without the waters of the Nile for irrigation, Egyptian civilization would probably not have lasted three thousand years.
The Nile was also considered as a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. In ancient Egypt the east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death since Ra, the god-sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each time he crossed the sky. Beacuse of this belief, all tombs were located west of the Nile as, in order to enter the afterlife, the departed had to be buried on the side symbolizing death.
A visitor to Egypt wanting an Ancient Egypt’s real overview should book a Nile cruise as this was, historically, the only way to visit the temples and tombs located along the river. When cruising on the Nile, one feels in the Heart of the ancient and modern land of Egypt as, along it’s banks are found magnificent temples, thousands of years old, and today’s traveler enjoys the air-conditioned comfort of river craft resplendent with the amenities of palaces. One also feels to have stepped back in time as, watching the bank, one sees activities conducted in much the same way they were thousands of years ago with donkey carts piled high with produce struggling along, and a background of mudbrick houses, not altogether different than their pharaonic counterparts, dotting the landscape.
The normal Nile cruise is aboard a “floating hotel” with most services and the accommodation of a land based hotel, including private baths, air conditioning, small swimming pools, hot tubs, exercise rooms, nightclubs, good restaurants, stores, small libraries and a variety of nightly shows like cocktail parties, Nubian shows, belly dancers and even dress up parties where guests don traditional apparel. All our 5 Star cruises feature outside Nile view cabins with private baths, individually controlled air-conditioning, telephone, T.V./video. meals, transfers to/from antiquity sites, entry fees plus the service of a fluent English speaking guide. Nile cruises may very considerably, but they are typically three, four or seven nights in lenght. The shorter tours usually operate between Luxor and Aswan, while the longer cruises travel further north to Dendera.
The Dahabiya Cruise
There is also a new way to enjoy cruising the Nile, on a small, traditional craft with a pace that suits the river, a Dahabiya boutique sailboat, the closest expereince to having your own private yacht. A dahabiya (from the Arabic for “gold” after their gilded railings) is a beautifully crafted wooden ship, similar to a houseboat and has been the traditional way of travel since ancient Egypt. Dahabiyas were used by pharaohs, pashas, emirs, and sultans. Cleopatra and Caesar spent nine months sailing in one, Napoleon used his own to explore Upper Egypt, Lord Kitcheners used them for his famous trip to Khartoum. Amelia B. Edwards, who had a piano installed on hers, notes in her book “A Thousand Miles up the Nile”, that the sailing vessel was, at that time, the preferred method of transportation among upper class Egyptians and the early tourists attracted by the newly discovered Pharaonic treasures.
More on Dahabiya Nile Cruises
Lake Nasser
Lake Nasser was created as a result of the construction of the controversial Aswan High Dam across the Nile between 1958 and 1970. The lake covers a 500-km2 region known in antiquity as Nubia. The anticipated rising waters behind the dam required major relocation projects and, to salvage the area’s rich archeological heritage, UNESCO launched the Nubian Campaign in 1960, an effort involving 54 countries over a period of 20 years. Several important Nubian and Ancient Egyptian archaeological sites were dismantled block by block and moved to higher ground, most notably Abu Simbel. Still many monuments were lost beneath the waters along with the prior Sudanese river-port and railway terminal of Wadi Halfa was lost. Egypt’s entire Nubian community from the upper reaches of the Nile – numbering several hundred thousand people – saw their villages disappear and were forced to relocate.
The reservoir that was created stretches some 300 miles into Sudan with an average width of about 6 miles across. Dotted with hundreds of islands and abundant wildlife it features scenery combining natural beauty with incredible history. The temples here had been nearly unreachable for visitors before the cruises on lake Nasser started. Now the cruise brings you to the Kalabsha temple, Ramses III’s rock cut temple known as Beit el Wali, the Roman temple of Hathor, known as Kertassi, Wadi El Seboua temple, the Meriotic and Ptolemaic temple called Al Dakka, the unfinished Serapis temple called Al Meharakka, the saved temple of Amada (built during Thothmoses III and Amenhotep II), the rock cut temple of Derr and the tomb of Penout (deputy under Ramses VI). On the east side of the lake is the ancient Fort now called Kasr Ibrim - and furthest south the two famous temples in Abu Simbel.
The Lake Nasser cruises ships or “Nubian cruises” sail between Aswan and Abu Simbel for 3 and 4 night journeys to discover the Legends of Nubia and the majestic temples and ruins of the region. Cruising aboard luxurous ships, designed with a hint of history yet featuring the most modern conveniences, a cruise on Lake Nasser allows the unforgetable experience of exploring the marvelous desert and the virgin landscapes of Nubia with amazing sunrises and sunsets views while relaxing and dining by candlelight on board the moored ship.
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