Aswan is a city in the south of Egypt, the capital of the Aswan Governorate.
It stands on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract and is a busy market and tourist center. Its ancient name, Swenet, translates as "trade". It contains the island of Elephantine.
Aswan is one of the driest inhabited places in the world; as of early 2001, the last rain there was six years earlier. As of 18 January 2009, the last rainfall was a thunderstorm on May 13, 2006. In Nubian settlements, they generally do not bother to roof all of the rooms in their houses. |
