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88-698: Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract . The modern city has expanded and includes the formerly separate community on the island of Elephantine . Aswan includes five monuments within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae ; these are the Old and Middle Kingdom tombs of Qubbet el-Hawa ,

176-600: A 1971 CIA declassified report, although the High Dam has not created ecological problems as serious as some observers have charged, its construction has brought economic losses as well as gains. These losses derive largely from the settling in dam's lake of the rich silt traditionally borne by the Nile. To date (1971), the main impact has been on the fishing industry. Egypt's Mediterranean catch, which once averaged 35,000–40,000 tons annually, has shrunk to 20,000 tons or less, largely because

264-465: A November 2021 rain and hail storm, flash flooding can drive scorpions from their lairs to deadly effects. Aswan is one of the least humid cities on the planet, with an average relative humidity of only 26%, with a maximum mean of 42% during winter and a minimum mean of 16% during summer. The weather of Aswan is extremely clear, bright and sunny year-round in all seasons, with low seasonal variation and almost 4,000 hours of annual sunshine – very close to

352-464: A desire and the ability developed to completely control the flooding, and thus both protect and support farmland and its economically important cotton crop. With the greatly increased reservoir storage provided by the High Aswan Dam, the floods could be controlled and the water could be stored for later release over multiple years. The Aswan Dam was designed by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Malyshev of

440-444: A growing period of almost one year. The high dam at Aswan releases, on average, 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft) water per year, of which some 46 cubic kilometres (37,000,000 acre⋅ft) are diverted into the irrigation canals. In the Nile valley and delta, almost 336,000 square kilometres (130,000 sq mi) benefit from these waters producing on average 1.8 crops per year. The annual crop consumptive use of water

528-687: A million families were settled on these new lands. In particular the area under rice and sugar cane cultivation increased. In addition, about 1 million feddan (420,000 hectares), mostly in Upper Egypt, were converted from flood irrigation with only one crop per year to perennial irrigation allowing two or more crops per year. On other previously irrigated land, yields increased because water could be made available at critical low-flow periods. For example, wheat yields in Egypt tripled between 1952 and 1991 and better availability of water contributed to this increase. Most of

616-675: A subsurface drainage system and approximately 7.2 square kilometres (2.8 sq mi) of water is drained annually from areas with these systems. The total investment cost in agricultural drainage over 27 years from 1973 to 2002 was about $ 3.1 billion covering the cost of design, construction, maintenance, research and training. During this period 11 large-scale projects were implemented with financial support from World Bank and other donors. The High Dam has resulted in protection from floods and droughts , an increase in agricultural production and employment, electricity production, and improved navigation that also benefits tourism. Conversely,

704-498: A total of 2.1 gigawatts (2,800,000 hp). Power generation began in 1967. When the High Dam first reached peak output in 1970, it produced around half of Egypt's production of electric power (about 15 percent by 1998), and it gave most Egyptian villages the use of electricity for the first time. The High Dam has also improved the efficiency and the extension of the Old Aswan Hydropower stations by regulating upstream flows. At

792-405: Is 500 km (310 mi) long and 35 km (22 mi) at its widest, with a surface area of 5,250 square kilometres (2,030 sq mi). It holds 132 cubic kilometres (1.73 × 10  cu yd) of water. Due to the absence of appreciable rainfall, Egypt's agriculture depends entirely on irrigation . With irrigation, two harvests per year are possible, except for sugar cane which has

880-425: Is about 38 cubic kilometres (31,000,000 acre⋅ft). Hence, the overall irrigation efficiency is 38/46 = 0.826 or 83%. This is a relatively high irrigation efficiency. The field irrigation efficiencies are much less, but the losses are reused downstream. This continuous reuse accounts for the high overall efficiency. The following table shows the distribution of irrigation water over the branch canals taking off from

968-462: Is dry. Winters are brief and pleasantly mild, though nights may be cool at times. The climate of Aswan is extremely dry year-round, with less than 1 mm (0.04 in) of average annual precipitation. The desert city is one of the driest ones in the world, and rainfall does not occur every year; in early 2001, the last rain in Aswan had been seven years earlier. When heavy precipitation does occur, as in

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1056-537: Is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from soil salinization and waterlogging. By 2003, more than 2 million hectares have been equipped with a subsurface drainage system at a cost from 1973 to 2002 of about $ 3.1 billion. Contrary to many predictions made prior to the Aswan High Dam construction and publications that followed, that the prevalence of schistosomiasis (bilharzia) would increase, it did not. This assumption did not take into account

1144-733: Is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Herodotus , Strabo , Stephanus of Byzantium , Ptolemy , Pliny the Elder , Vitruvius , and it appears on the Antonine Itinerary . It may also be mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Isaiah . The Nile is nearly 650 m (0.40 mi) wide above Aswan. From this frontier town to the northern extremity of Egypt, the river flows for more than 1,200 km (750 mi) without bar or cataract . The voyage from Aswan to Alexandria usually took 21 to 28 days in favorable weather. In April 2018,

1232-623: The Abu Simbel temples, were preserved by moving them to the shores of the lake under the UNESCO Nubia Campaign. Also moved were Philae , Kalabsha and Amada . These monuments were granted to countries that helped with the works: These items were removed to the garden area of the Sudan National Museum of Khartoum : The Temple of Ptah at Gerf Hussein had its free-standing section reconstructed at New Kalabsha , alongside

1320-674: The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced the discovery of the head of the bust of Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius at the Temple of Kom Ombo during work to protect the site from groundwater. In September 2018, the Egyptian Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany announced that a sandstone sphinx statue had been discovered at the temple of Kom Ombo. The statue, measuring approximately 28 cm (11 in) in width and 38 cm (15 in)) in height, probably dates to

1408-531: The New Halfa Agricultural Development Scheme to grow cotton, grains, sugar cane and other crops. The Nubians were resettled in twenty five planned villages that included schools, medical facilities, and other services, including piped water and some electrification. In Egypt, the majority of the 50,000 Nubians were moved three to ten kilometers from the Nile near Edna and Kom Ombo , 45 kilometers (28 mi) downstream from Aswan in what

1496-573: The Ptolemaic Dynasty . Archaeologists discovered 35 mummified remains of Egyptians in a tomb in Aswan in 2019. Italian archaeologist Patrizia Piacentini and El-Enany both reported that the tomb, where the remains of ancient men, women and children were found, dates back to the Greco-Roman period between 332 BC and 395 AD. While the findings assumed belonging to a mother and a child were well preserved, others had suffered major destruction. Other than

1584-578: The Temple of Kalabsha , Beit el-Wali , and the Kiosk of Qertassi . The remaining archaeological sites, including the Buhen fort and the cemetery of Fadrus have been flooded by Lake Nasser. Before the construction of the High Dam, the Nile deposited sediments of various particle size – consisting of fine sand, silt and clay – on fields in Upper Egypt through its annual flood, contributing to soil fertility. However,

1672-557: The 32 km of freshwater, or almost 40 percent of the average flow of the Nile that were previously lost to the sea every year could be put to beneficial use. While about 10 km of the water saved is lost due to evaporation in Lake Nasser, the amount of water available for irrigation still increased by 22 km . Other estimates put evaporation from Lake Nasser at between 10 and 16 cubic km per year. The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts (235,000 hp), with

1760-749: The Arab-Israeli conflict. While opposed to communism, capitalism, and imperialism , Nasser identified as a tactical neutralist , and sought to work with both the U.S. and the USSR for Egyptian and Arab benefit. After the UN criticized a raid by Israel against Egyptian forces in Gaza in 1955, Nasser realized that he could not portray himself as the leader of pan-Arab nationalism if he could not defend his country militarily against Israel. In addition to his development plans, he looked to quickly modernize his military, and he turned first to

1848-498: The British. This has changed. Large-scale treatment programmes in the 1990s using single-dose oral medication contributed greatly to reducing the prevalence and severity of S. mansoni in the Delta. Sediment deposited in the reservoir is lowering the water storage capacity of Lake Nasser. The reservoir storage capacity is 162 km , including 31 km dead storage at the bottom of

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1936-608: The Dam as the result of erosion caused by the flow of sediment-free water. Estimates by various national and international experts put this drop at between and 2 and 10 meters (6.6 and 32.8 ft). However, the actual drop has been measured at 0.3–0.7 meters (0.98–2.30 ft), much less than expected. Coptic Diocese of Syene The Diocese of Syene is an ancient see of the Coptic Church in Aswan , Egypt . As its first bishop Neilammon

2024-493: The Egyptian coast declined from 18,000 tons in 1962 to a mere 460 tons in 1968, but then gradually recovered to 8,590 tons in 1992. A scientific article in the mid-1990s noted that "the mismatch between low primary productivity and relatively high levels of fish production in the region still presents a puzzle to scientists." A concern before the construction of the High Dam had been the potential drop in river-bed level downstream of

2112-479: The Egyptians. Egyptian participation in the venture has raised the construction industry's capacity and reputation significantly. On the Egyptian side, the project was led by Osman Ahmed Osman 's Arab Contractors . The relatively young Osman underbid his only competitor by one-half. The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 metres (12,570 ft) long, 980 m (3,220 ft) wide at the base, 40 m (130 ft) wide at

2200-794: The Low Dam was almost overtopped in 1946, the government of King Farouk showed no interest in Daninos's plans. Instead the Nile Valley Plan by the British hydrologist Harold Edwin Hurst was favored, which proposed to store water in Sudan and Ethiopia, where evaporation is much lower. The Egyptian position changed completely after the overthrow of the monarchy , led by the Free Officers Movement including Gamal Abdel Nasser . The Free Officers were convinced that

2288-489: The Moscow-based Hydroproject Institute . Designed for both irrigation and power generation , the dam incorporates a number of relatively new features, including a very deep grout curtain below its base. Although the reservoir will eventually silt in, even the most conservative estimates indicate the dam will give at least 200 years of service. The earliest recorded attempt to build a dam near Aswan

2376-452: The Nile Basin – most of which could have been predicted – it is a failure". Periodic floods and droughts have affected Egypt since ancient times. The dam mitigated the effects of floods, such as those in 1964, 1973, and 1988. Navigation along the river has been improved, both upstream and downstream of the dam. Sailing along the Nile is a favorite tourism activity, which is mainly done during

2464-520: The Nile Valley fluctuated 8–9 m (26–30 ft) per year with the water level of the Nile. During summer when evaporation was highest, the groundwater level was too deep to allow salts dissolved in the water to be pulled to the surface through capillary action . With the disappearance of the annual flood and heavy year-round irrigation, groundwater levels remained high with little fluctuation leading to waterlogging . Soil salinity also increased because

2552-624: The Nile Waters had to be stored in Egypt for political reasons, and within two months, the plan of Daninos was accepted. Initially, both the United States and the USSR were interested in helping development of the dam. Complications ensued due to their rivalry during the Cold War , as well as growing intra-Arab tensions . In 1955, Nasser was claiming to be the leader of Arab nationalism , in opposition to

2640-514: The Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902 and the dam was opened on 10 December 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird , whose firm, John Aird & Co. , was the main contractor. In 1952, the Greek-Egyptian engineer Adrian Daninos began to develop the plan of the new Aswan Dam. Although

2728-569: The Romans during their occupation of Ancient Egypt because of the similar association of their goddesses with childbirth, and of which the import is "the opener". The ancient name of the city also is said to be derived from the Egyptian symbol for "trade", or "market". Because the Ancient Egyptians oriented themselves toward the origin of the life-giving waters of the Nile in the south, and as Swenett

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2816-520: The Soviets offered Nasser $ 1.12 billion at 2% interest for the construction of the dam. On 19 July the U.S. State Department announced that American financial assistance for the High Dam was "not feasible in present circumstances." On 26 July 1956, with wide Egyptian acclaim, Nasser announced the nationalization of the Suez Canal that included fair compensation for the former owners. Nasser planned on

2904-423: The U.S. for aid. American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and President Dwight Eisenhower told Nasser that the U.S. would supply him with weapons only if they were used for defensive purposes and if he accepted American military personnel for supervision and training. Nasser did not accept these conditions, and consulted the USSR for support. Although Dulles believed that Nasser was only bluffing and that

2992-585: The UK pledged $ 56 and $ 14 million, respectively, toward construction of the High Aswan Dam. Though the Czech arms deal created an incentive for the US to invest at Aswan, the UK cited the deal as a reason for repealing its promise of dam funds. Dulles was angered more by Nasser's diplomatic recognition of China , which was in direct conflict with Dulles's policy of containment of communism. Several other factors contributed to

3080-469: The UNESCO Global Network of Learning Cities in 2017. Aswan was formerly spelled Assuan or Assouan. Names in other languages include ( Arabic : أسوان , romanized :  ʾAswān ; Ancient Egyptian : Swenett ; Coptic : Ⲥⲟⲩⲁⲛ , romanized:  Souan ; Ancient Greek : Συήνη , romanized :  Suēnē ; proposed Biblical Hebrew : סְוֵנֵה Sǝwēnê ). The Nubians also call

3168-479: The US deciding to withdraw its offer of funding for the dam. Dulles believed that the USSR would not fulfill its commitment of military aid. He was also irritated by Nasser's neutrality and attempts to play both sides of the Cold War . At the time, other Western allies in the Middle East, including Turkey and Iraq, were resentful that Egypt, a persistently neutral country, was being offered so much aid. In June 1956,

3256-456: The USSR would not aid Nasser, he was wrong: the USSR promised Nasser a quantity of arms in exchange for a deferred payment of Egyptian grain and cotton. On 27 September 1955, Nasser announced an arms deal , with Czechoslovakia acting as a middleman for the Soviet support. Instead of attacking Nasser for turning to the Soviets, Dulles sought to improve relations with him. In December 1955, the US and

3344-599: The United States, the United Kingdom, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) withdrew their support in 1956. The first Soviet loan of $ 100 million to cover construction of coffer dams for diversion of the Nile was extended in 1958. An additional $ 225 million was extended in 1960 to complete the dam and construct power-generating facilities, and subsequently about $ 100 million

3432-440: The ancient geographers and mathematicians. They believed that it was seated immediately under the tropic , and that on the day of the summer solstice , a vertically positioned staff cast no shadow. They noted that the sun's disc was reflected in a deep well (or pit) at noon. This statement is only approximately correct; at the summer solstice, the shadow was only 1 ⁄ 400 of the staff, and so could scarcely be discerned, and

3520-472: The annual spread of sediment due to the Nile floods occurred along the banks of the Nile. Areas far from the river which never received the Nile floods before are now being irrigated. A more serious issue of trapping of sediment by the dam is that it has increased coastline erosion surrounding the Nile Delta. There is a lack of reliable statistics. Before the construction of the High Dam, groundwater levels in

3608-595: The change to perennial irrigation. The dams also protected Egypt from the droughts in 1972–1973 and 1983–1987 that devastated East and West Africa. The High Dam allowed Egypt to reclaim about 2.0 million feddan (840,000 hectares) in the Nile Delta and along the Nile Valley, increasing the country's irrigated area by a third. The increase was brought about both by irrigating what used to be desert and by bringing under cultivation of 385,000 hectares (950,000 acres) that were previously used as flood retention basins. About half

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3696-513: The city Dib which means " fortress, palace " and is derived from the Old Nubian name ⲇⲡ̅ⲡⲓ. Aswan is the ancient city of Swenett , later known as Syene , which in antiquity was the frontier town of Ancient Egypt facing the south. Swenett is supposed to have derived its name from an Egyptian goddess with the same name. This goddess later was identified as Eileithyia by the Greeks and Lucina by

3784-558: The crest and 111 m (364 ft) tall. It contains 43,000,000 cubic metres (56,000,000 cu yd) of material. At maximum, 11,000 cubic metres per second (390,000 cu ft/s) of water can pass through the dam. There are further emergency spillways for an extra 5,000 cubic metres per second (180,000 cu ft/s), and the Toshka Canal links the reservoir to the Toshka Depression. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser ,

3872-416: The crumbling temple was decorated with palm leaf carvings and an incomplete sandstone panel that described a Roman emperor. Researcher Abdel Badie states more generally that the church contained ovens used to bake pottery, four rooms, a long hall, stairs, and stone tiles. Northern Tropic boundary The latitude of the city that would become Aswan – located at 24° 5′ 23″ – was an object of great interest to

3960-433: The dam flooded a large area, causing the relocation of over 100,000 people. Many archaeological sites were submerged while others were relocated. The dam is blamed for coastline erosion, soil salinity, and health problems. The assessment of the costs and benefits of the dam remains controversial decades after its completion. According to one estimate, the annual economic benefit of the High Dam immediately after its completion

4048-403: The dam should be torn down. Tearing it down would cost only a fraction of the funds required for "continually combating the dam's consequential damage" and 500,000 hectares (1,900 sq mi) of fertile land could be reclaimed from the layers of mud on the bed of the drained reservoir. Samuel C. Florman wrote about the dam: "As a structure it is a success. But in its effect on the ecology of

4136-494: The dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt's planned industrialization . Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt . Before the High Dam was built, even with the old dam in place, the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer had continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin . These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched

4224-497: The damage inflicted on a main transformer station in 1968 by Israeli commandos has been repaired, and the Aswan plant is fully integrated with the power network in Lower Egypt. By 1971 estimation, power output at Aswan won't reach much more than half of the plant's theoretical capacity, because of limited water supplies and the differing seasonal water-use patterns for irrigation and power production. Agricultural demand for water in

4312-503: The distance between the surface and the groundwater table was small enough (1–2 m depending on soil conditions and temperature) to allow water to be pulled up by evaporation so that the relatively small concentrations of salt in the groundwater accumulated on the soil surface over the years. Since most of the farmland did not have proper subsurface drainage to lower the groundwater table, salinization gradually affected crop yields. Drainage through sub-surface drains and drainage channels

4400-524: The earliest depiction of the White Crown with an estimated dating range between 3200BC and 3100BC. In February 2021, archaeologists from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced significant discoveries at an archaeological site called Shiha Fort in Aswan, namely a Ptolemaic period temple, a Roman fort, an early Coptic church and an inscription in hieratic script. According to Mostafa Waziri ,

4488-404: The extent of perennial irrigation that was already present throughout Egypt decades before the high dam closure. By the 1950s only a small proportion of Upper Egypt had not been converted from basin (low transmission) to perennial (high transmission) irrigation. Expansion of perennial irrigation systems in Egypt did not depend on the high dam. In fact, within 15 years of the high dam closure there

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4576-527: The famous temple of Abu Simbel were about to be submerged by waters collected behind the dam. A rescue operation began in 1960 under UNESCO (for details see below under Effects). Despite its size, the Aswan project has not materially hurt the Egyptian balance of payments . The three Soviet credits covered virtually all of the project's foreign exchange requirements, including the cost of technical services, imported power generating and transmission equipment and some imported equipment for land reclamation. Egypt

4664-432: The fertile soil along its floodplain and delta ; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times . However, this natural flooding varied, since high-water years could destroy the whole crop , while low-water years could create widespread drought and consequently famine . Both these events had continued to occur periodically. As Egypt's population grew and technology increased, both

4752-399: The granitic rock called syenite . They furnished the colossal statues, obelisks , and monolithic shrines that are found throughout Egypt, including the pyramids ; and the traces of the quarrymen who worked (alongside domesticated draft animals) in these 3,000 years ago are still visible in the native rock. They lie on either bank of the Nile , and a road, 6.5 km (4.0 mi) in length,

4840-456: The infested waterways was about 27,000 km (17,000 mi) in the mid-1990s. Weeds have been gradually brought under control by manual, mechanical and biological methods. Mediterranean fishing and brackish water lake fishery declined after the dam was finished because nutrients that flowed down the Nile to the Mediterranean were trapped behind the dam. For example, the sardine catch off

4928-446: The lake below 147 m (482 ft) above sea level, 90 km live storage, and 41 km of storage for high flood waters above 175 m (574 ft) above sea level. The annual sediment load of the Nile is about 134 million tons. This means that the dead storage volume would be filled up after 300–500 years if the sediment accumulated at the same rate throughout the area of the lake. Obviously sediment accumulates much faster at

5016-404: The large number of subsurface drainage projects executed in the last decades to control the water table and soil salinity . Drainage through subsurface drains and drainage channels is essential to prevent a deterioration of crop yields from waterlogging and soil salinization caused by irrigation. By 2003, more than 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 sq mi) have been equipped with

5104-593: The loss of plankton nourished by the silt has eliminated the sardine population in Egyptian waters. Fishing in high dam's lake may in time at least partly offset the loss of saltwater fish, but only the most optimistic estimates place the eventual catch as high as 15,000–20,000 tons. Lack of continuing silt deposits at the mouth of the river also has contributed to a serious erosion problem. Commercial fertilizer requirements and salination and drainage difficulties, already large in perennially irrigated areas of Lower and Middle Egypt, will be somewhat increased in Upper Egypt by

5192-534: The maximum theoretical sunshine duration. Aswan is one of the sunniest places on Earth. The highest record temperature was 51 °C (124 °F) on July 4, 1918, and the lowest record temperature was −2.4 °C (27.7 °F) on January 6, 1989. In 2012, the Aswan University was inaugurated, which is headquartered in the city. Aswan is also home to the Aswan Higher Institute of Social Work, which

5280-429: The mummies, artifacts including painted funerary masks, vases of bitumen used in mummification, pottery and wooden figurines were revealed. Thanks to the hieroglyphs on the tomb, it was detected that the tomb belongs to a tradesman named Tjit. Piacentini commented "It's a very important discovery because we have added something to the history of Aswan that was missing. We knew about tombs and necropoli dating back to

5368-468: The negative environmental and social effects of the dam, its costs are thus estimated to have been recovered within only two years. One observer notes: "The impacts of the Aswan High Dam (...) have been overwhelmingly positive. Although the Dam has contributed to some environmental problems , these have proved to be significantly less severe than was generally expected, or currently believed by many people." Another observer disagreed and he recommended that

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5456-499: The northern limb of the Sun's disc would be nearly vertical. More than 2200 years ago, Greek polymath Eratosthenes used this information to calculate Earth's circumference . Aswan has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ) like the rest of Egypt. Aswan and Luxor have the hottest summer days of any city in Egypt . Aswan is one of the hottest, sunniest and driest cities in

5544-431: The nutrient value of the sediment has often been overestimated. 88 percent of the sediment was carried to the sea before the construction of the High Dam. The nutrient value added to the land by the sediment was only 6,000 tons of potash , 7,000 tons of phosphorus pentoxide and 17,000 tons of nitrogen. These amounts are insignificant compared to what is needed to reach the yields achieved today in Egypt's irrigation. Also,

5632-545: The old town of Wadi Halfa and its surrounding villages. Some were moved to a newly created settlement on the shore of Lake Nasser called New Wadi Halfa, and some were resettled approximately 700 kilometres (430 mi) south to the semi-arid Butana plain near the town of Khashm el-Girba up the Atbara River . The climate there had a regular rainy season as opposed to their previous desert habitat in which virtually no rain fell. The government developed an irrigation project, called

5720-461: The one main irrigation canal, the Mansuriya Canal near Giza. The salt concentration of the water in the Aswan reservoir is about 0.25 kilograms per cubic metre (0.42 lb/cu yd), a very low salinity level. At an annual inflow of 55 cubic kilometres (45,000,000 acre⋅ft), the annual salt influx reaches 14 million tons. The average salt concentration of the drainage water evacuated into

5808-616: The revenues generated by the canal to help fund construction of the High Dam. When the Suez War broke out, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel seized the canal and the Sinai. But pressure from the U.S. and the USSR at the United Nations and elsewhere forced them to withdraw. In 1958, the USSR proceeded to provide support for the High Dam project. In the 1950s, archaeologists began raising concerns that several major historical sites, including

5896-490: The sea and the coastal lakes is 2.7 kilograms per cubic metre (4.6 lb/cu yd). At an annual discharge of 10 cubic kilometres (2.4 cu mi) (not counting the 2 kilograms per cubic metre [3.4 lb/cu yd] of salt intrusion from the sea and the lakes, see figure "Water balances"), the annual salt export reaches 27 million ton. In 1995, the output of salt was higher than the influx, and Egypt's agricultural lands were desalinizing . Part of this could be due to

5984-458: The second and third millennium, but we didn't know where the people who lived in the last part of the Pharaonic era were. Aswan, on the southern border of Egypt , was also a very important trading city". Stan Hendrick, John Coleman Darnell and Maria Gatto in 2012 excavated petroglyphic engravings from Nag el-Hamdulab in Aswan which featured representations of a boat procession, solar symbolism and

6072-463: The south. Other key transport infrastructures are the Port of Aswan, the largest river port in the region, and Aswan International Airport . Aswan is twinned with: Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam , or Aswan High Dam , is one of the world's largest embankment dams , which was built across the Nile in Aswan , Egypt , between 1960 and 1970. When it was completed, it was the tallest earthen dam in

6160-596: The summer far exceeds the amount needed to meet the comparatively low summer demand for electric power. Heavy summer irrigation use, however, will leave insufficient water under Egyptian control to permit hydroelectric power production at full capacity in the winter. Technical studies indicate that a maximum annual output of 5 billion kWh appears to be all that can be sustained due to fluctuations in Nile flows. Lake Nasser flooded much of lower Nubia and 100,000 to 120,000 people were resettled in Sudan and Egypt. In Sudan, 50,000 to 70,000 Sudanese Nubians were moved from

6248-634: The time of completion, it was the largest power station in Africa and the 6th largest hydroelectric power station in the world. All High Dam power facilities were completed ahead of schedule. Twelve turbines were installed and tested, giving the plant an installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts (MW), or more than twice the national total in 1960. With this capacity, the Aswan plant can produce 10 billion kWh of energy yearly. Two 500-kilovolt trunk lines to Cairo have been completed, and initial transmission problems, stemming mainly from poor insulators, were solved. Also,

6336-738: The town of Elephantine , the stone quarries and Unfinished Obelisk , the Monastery of St. Simeon and the Fatimid Cemetery . The city's Nubian Museum is an important archaeological center, containing finds from the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia before the Aswan Dam flooded all of Lower Nubia . The city is part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of craft and folk art. Aswan joined

6424-517: The traditional monarchies, especially the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq following its signing of the 1955 Baghdad Pact . At that time the U.S. feared that communism would spread to the Middle East, and it saw Nasser as a natural leader of an anticommunist procapitalist Arab League . America and the United Kingdom offered to help finance construction of the High Dam, with a loan of $ 270 million, in return for Nasser's leadership in resolving

6512-401: The upper reaches of the lake, where sedimentation has already affected the live storage zone. Before the construction of the High Dam, the 50,000 km (31,000 mi) of irrigation and drainage canals in Egypt had to be dredged regularly to remove sediments. After construction of the dam, aquatic weeds grew much faster in the clearer water, helped by fertilizer residues. The total length of

6600-446: The winter when the natural flow of the Nile would have been too low to allow navigation of cruise ships. A new fishing industry has been created around Lake Nasser, though it is struggling due to its distance from any significant markets. The annual production was about 35,000 tons in the mid-1990s. Factories for the fishing industry and packaging have been set up near the Lake. According to

6688-678: The world, surpassing the Chatuge Dam in the United States. The dam, which created the Lake Nasser reservoir, was built 7 km (4.3 mi) upstream of the Aswan Low Dam , which had been completed in 1902 and was already at its maximum utilization. Construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the military regime that took power following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution . With its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity ,

6776-471: The world. Average high temperatures are consistently above 40 °C (104.0 °F) during summer (June, July, August and also September) while average low temperatures remain above 25 °C (77.0 °F). Average high temperatures remain above 23 °C (73.4 °F) during the coldest month of the year while average low temperatures remain above 8 °C (46.4 °F). Summers are very prolonged and extremely hot with blazing sunshine although desert heat

6864-452: Was E£ 255 million , $ 587 million using the exchange rate in 1970 of $ 2.30 per E£1 : E£140 million from agricultural production, E£100 million from hydroelectric generation, E£10 million from flood protection, and E£5 million from improved navigation. At the time of its construction, total cost, including unspecified "subsidiary projects" and the extension of electric power lines, amounted to E£450 million . Not taking into account

6952-523: Was called "New Nubia". Housing and facilities were built for 47 village units whose relationship to each other approximated that in Old Nubia. Irrigated land was provided to grow mainly sugar cane. In 2019–20, Egypt started to compensate the Nubians who lost their homes following the dam impoundment. Twenty-two monuments and architectural complexes that were threatened by flooding from Lake Nasser, including

7040-456: Was cut beside them from Syene to Philae . Swenett was equally important as a military station and for its position on a trade route. Under every dynasty it was a garrison town; and here tolls and customs were levied on all boats passing southwards and northwards. Around 330, the legion stationed here received a bishop from Alexandria ; this later became the Coptic Diocese of Syene . The city

7128-427: Was designed by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Malyshev of the Moscow-based Hydroproject Institute , along with some Egyptian engineers. 25,000 Egyptian engineers and workers contributed to the construction of the dams. Originally designed by West German and French engineers in the early 1950s and slated for financing with Western credits, the Aswan High Dam became the USSR's largest and most famous foreign aid project after

7216-560: Was established in 1975. The city is crossed by the Cape to Cairo Road , which connects it to Luxor and Cairo to the north, and Abu Simbel and Wadi Halfa to the south. Also important is the Aswan- Berenice highway, which connects with the ports of the Red Sea . Aswan is linked to Cairo by the Cape to Cairo Railway , which also connects it with Wadi Halfa. The railway is incomplete towards

7304-549: Was in the 11th century, when the Arab polymath and engineer Ibn al-Haytham (known as Alhazen in the West) was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph , Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah , to regulate the flooding of the Nile , a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam. His field work convinced him of the impracticality of this scheme. The British began construction of the first dam across

7392-487: Was made available for land reclamation. These credits of some $ 425 million covered only the foreign exchange costs of the project, including salaries of Soviet engineers who supervised the project and were responsible for the installation and testing of Soviet equipment. Actual construction, which began in 1960, was done by Egyptian companies on contract to the High Dam Authority, and all domestic costs were borne by

7480-578: Was not mentioned as a new one in the Festal Letter of 339, it is assumed the diocese was established in the early 330s. Appion referred to himself as the "Bishop of the Legions of Syene, Contra Syene, and Elephantine ," indicating an affiliation with the border guards at Aswan, but this may have been an error for "region." The current bishop is Hedra, Metropolitan of Aswan ( Syene and Elephantine) and Kom Ombo . Dijkstra, J. Harm F.: Religious encounters on

7568-622: Was not seriously burdened by payments on the credits, most of which were extended for 12 years with interest at the very low rate of 2-1/2%. Repayments to the USSR constituted only a small net drain during the first half of the 1960s, and increased export earnings derived from crops grown on newly reclaimed land have largely offset the modest debt service payments in recent years. During 1965–1970, these export earnings amounted to an estimated $ 126 million, compared with debt service payments of $ 113 million. The Soviets also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam

7656-434: Was solid evidence that bilharzia was declining in Upper Egypt. S. haematobium has since disappeared altogether. Suggested reasons for this include improvements in irrigation practice. In the Nile Delta, schistosomiasis had been highly endemic, with prevalence in the villages 50% or higher for almost a century before. This was a consequence of the conversion of the Delta to perennial irrigation to grow long staple cotton by

7744-477: Was the southernmost town in the country, Egypt always was conceived to "open" or begin at Swenett. The city stood upon a peninsula on the right (east) bank of the Nile , immediately below (and north of) the first cataract of the flowing waters, which extended to it from Philae . Navigation to the delta was possible from this location without encountering a barrier. The stone quarries of ancient Egypt located here were celebrated for their stone, and especially for

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