aswank007

It was big, foreboding, commanding. The hills behind me came alive. The water’s blue turned lighter. The temperature in Aswan that October day in 2010 reached 110 degrees.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank006

As the earth and the billboard moved lower and northward, the sun’s full force blinded me. It was at first red, then it turned molting white.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank008

Today a shopkeeper in the Souk called out to me: “You look Egyptian. I have the right scalp hat for you.” The Aswan Souq that I saw was mostly one long and narrow alley. Its roof consisted of a series of retractable pieces of cloth that served as a protection against the sun.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank004

Soon on our side to the west irrigation stopped in most places. Hilly, baked, light brown desert occupied the space. This was the Great Sand Dune Sea, matched on the east of the Nile by the Eastern Desert. The bounty of the Nile did not extend far. The train plodded quietly as though it was a modern equivalent of the camel.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank003

The Nile was not far but it was often not visible. The fields were sometimes fenced in front with short mud and straw walls. The hot sun burned through the haze. Palm trees appeared occasionally, pregnant with ripe dates.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank002

In the space between the train’s cars which we boarded a man sat next to the luggage stowed away on two shelves. We added our luggage ourselves, but this did not stop the man from asking for an unearned tip. The cars were non-smoking, air conditioned, and had comfortable chairs. I had a view window. We went through dry but irrigated fields fed from water canals running parallel to the tracks.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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aswank001

The porter who carried our luggage in the train station was not afraid of live lines in the tracks which he crossed with abandon; we used the overpass to go to the appropriate platform.

Jewel of the Nile

Photo essay: Aswan, a thousand years later

by Keyvan Tabari
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