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Luxor and Aswan are not only the main cities in Upper Egypt where you can visit
ancient Egyptian sites. If you are cruising down the Nile between Luxor and Aswan
there are 3 main towns that you can stop by to watch their primitive atmosphere
as well as the ancient sites. These towns could also be reached by bus from Luxor
or Aswan
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Esna:
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Or Esna is located on the Nile's west bank, about 55 km south of Luxor. Isna is
an agricultural town and is usually the first port to visit after leaving Luxor
in order to visit the remains of the Khnum Temple.
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Khnum Temple: Khnum was the God of the source of the river Nile with his
cult center previously located on the Elephantine Island in
Aswan. His second cult center was in Isna where a yearly festival of potters was held. This temple stands now 9m below the surrounding grounds
and about 200m away from the Nile.
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Souk: or the market these fill a couple of streets from the nile and leading
to the temple.
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Edfu:
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Also located on the nile's west bank, about 50km south of Isna. Edfu is famous for
the production of sugar and pottery. Edfu is also known to be the place where the
God Horus revenged his father's death (Osiris) by killing Set.
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Temple of Edfu: The temple is dedicated to Horus and is considered the 2nd
largest temple in Egypt after the Karnak Temple in Luxor. The
temple is characterized by an enormous quantity of inscriptions covering
the walls which provides important information on language, myth and religion during
the Greco-Roman period in ancient Egypt.
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Kom Ombo:
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This agricultural town is located 50km north of Aswan. The town is dedicated to
2 ancient Egyptian Gods who are, Sobek and Haroeris.
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Temple of Kom Ombo: this temple is actually 2 temples together. One side
of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile God Sobek (God of fertility and creator
of the world) while the other side of the temple is dedicated to the God Haroeris
(Falcon headed Sky God). Each side of the temple has its own sanctuaries and chambers
along with 2 different entrances to each temple.
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