Gebel Silsila

Gebel el Silsila is located approximately 20 km north of Kom Ombo and 60 km north of Aswan. While Luxor is further away, this site is still located about 150 km south of the city. It is situated in the Aswan Governorate, with the closest towns being Al Madiq, Kalabsah, and Al Kajuj, all located on the east bank of the Nile.

Gebel el Silsila’s geographical location is quite unique: the fertile Nile valley, several kilometers wide to the north and south of this point, is abruptly interrupted here by rocky cliffs rising on both banks, making agriculture impractical.

However, the significance of Gebel el Silsila in Ancient Egypt lies in the fact that it was used as a sculpture workshop at first and later as a quarry in Roman times. These rocky cliffs provided blocks of the best quality sandstone, which were used in some of the most majestic monuments of that period, such as the Colossi of Memnon in Luxor. Its location next to the Nile was an advantage, as it facilitated the transport of those blocks, and the properties of the rock also earned it a great reputation, particularly in the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom.

Mining at Gebel el Silsila was carried out on both banks of the Nile, with greater intensity on the eastern side. However, most of the main temples that have survived to this day are located on the western side, which is where visitors spend most of their time during organized tours.

After the decline of Ancient Egyptian civilization, the site’s exploitation came to an end and it remained largely forgotten until the early 20th century, despite its discovery in the previous century. In-depth research on the site was first published in the 1960s, and its popularity has since grown in tandem with Nile cruises, which have become more popular since the construction of the Aswan High Dam that allowed for permanent control of the river’s flow.

Archaeological work at Gebel Silsila has continued, and in recent decades, new discoveries have been integrated into visitors’ tours. One such discovery was a sphinx with a ram’s head that represents the god Amun and dates back to the time of Amenhotep III (18th Dynasty, New Kingdom), which was uncovered in recent years.

This concentration of temples demonstrates that, in addition to its importance as a quarry, Gebel el Silsila must have also been a place of reference at a religious level. Nevertheless, many of these temples are mutilated and in ruins because their blocks were reused in various periods, especially during the Amarna Period under the reign of Akhenaten. These are the most outstanding.