Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Gebel el-Silsila, located on both banks of the Nile between Edfu and Kom Ombo, is a place whose significance was defined by its unique topographic features, namely, the extremely narrow river bed hemmed in by sandstone hills. From the New Kingdom on, huge quantities of sandstone for temple building were quarried here, and during the New Kingdom, Gebel el-Silsila was of considerable religious importance as a place of worship of the inundation. It was also a place of conspicuous royal favor towards private individuals. All of this resulted in a substantial number ofmonuments, from temples down to graffiti, most of them cut into the rock and thus still in situ.