Qubbat al-Hawa
๐ Location: West bank of the Nile at Aswan, opposite Elephantine ย ยท ย ๐บ Period: Old to Middle Kingdoms mainly ย ยท ย ๐๏ธ Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
Qubbat al-Hawa โ "the Dome of the Wind" โ takes its modern name from a small white-domed Muslim shrine perched on top of the west-bank cliff at Aswan. But the cliff itself is studded with the rock-cut tombs of the local governors and high officials who administered Egypt's southern frontier from the late Old Kingdom into the Middle Kingdom (c. 2300 โ 1750 BC). Some governors led trading and military expeditions deep into Nubia; their autobiographies, carved into the tomb walls, are among the earliest travel writing in human history.
Around forty tombs are open in varying states of preservation. The most rewarding are those of Sarenput I and II (12th-Dynasty princes of Elephantine), Harkhuf (the Old Kingdom caravan leader who brought back a dancing pygmy for the boy-king Pepi II โ the surviving letter from Pepi is quoted on the tomb wall), and Mekhu and Sabni, a father-and-son pair whose stories of a Nubian campaign make for some of Egypt's earliest narrative texts.
From the top of the climb the view stretches across Elephantine Island, the West Aswan Nubian villages and the Mausoleum of the Aga Khan.
Highlights
- Tomb of Harkhuf โ the dancing pygmy letter
- Tombs of Sarenput I & II โ beautifully decorated Middle Kingdom
- Mekhu and Sabni โ joint father-son tomb
- The Islamic Qubbat al-Hawa shrine at the summit
- Panorama over Aswan from the cliff terrace
Visiting
- Opening hours: 7 am โ 4 pm
- Tickets: ~200 EGP foreign adults
- Getting there: boat across from Aswan corniche, then a steep stair up the cliff
- Best time: late afternoon โ view and golden light
- Nearby: Elephantine, Mausoleum of the Aga Khan, Nubian villages