Aswan Museum
You can’t miss visiting the fascinating Aswan Museum, which hosts a glittering collection of artifacts from the Graeco – Roman period. You can also have a look at the Roman Nilometer, the device used to establish the level of the Nile. This one in particular was also used to assess the circumstances of the earth in around 200 BC.
The Monastery of St. Simeon
Ride a camel or climb to the ruins of the Coptic Monastery of St. Simeon, originally founded in the 7th century AD. Rebuilt in the 10th century and eventually destroyed by Salah El Din in 1173, the monastery was a base for missionary monks who converted the Nubians to Christianity. Frescoes of the Apostles still remain in the roofless Basilica.
The Unfinished Obelisk
Much of the red granite used for ancient temples and colossi came from quarries in the Aswan area. The Unfinished Obelisk still lies where a crack was discovered as it was being hewn from the rock. Possibly intended as a companion to the Lateran obelisk, originally at the Karnak Temple, now in Rome, it would have measured 120 ft and weighed over 1150 tons when complete. The site has recently been renovated and equipped with tourist facilities. Nearby is the Fatimid cemetery and hundreds of mud-brick tombs dating back to the 9th Century AD.
The Tombs of the Nobles
The northern hills of the west bank are filled with rock-hewn tombs of princes from the Old Kingdom to the Roman period. At night they are illuminated with hidden spotlights and can be clearly seen from Aswan. From the inside, the tombs are decorated with vivid wall paintings showing scenes of everyday life, hieroglyphic biographies and inscriptions telling of the noblemen's journeys into Africa.
The Aga Khan Mausoleum
Take a felucca to the Aga Khan Mausoleum, atop a hill at the southern end of the west bank. The Aga Khan used to spend every winter in Aswan and was buried here in this magnificent mausoleum, modeled on the Fatimid tombs in Cairo.