The furthest south stop on Sven's travels was the bustling city of Aswan. For the feathered Egyptologist there is loads to see here, but unfortunately the time available was short so Sven had to carefully pick what he wanted to see and where he wanted to go.
One 'Must See' when visiting Aswan is the necropolis known as 'the tombs of the princes of Aswan'. This network of tombs are cut into the hillside just over the river from the town.
So a quick haggle over the price, and Sven crossed the Nile in style in his own private sail boat.
One slight disadvantage of the sail boat approach to getting anywhere is the lack of wind Sven encountered at Aswan. He was very impressed by the skill of the Egyptian sailors as they zig-zagged their way across the river making the most of the current and what little wind there was.
One of the most imposing features of the hill in which the tombs are cut is this large mud brick ruin. Sven's guide told him that it was from the Roman period.
It must have been quite an important building in it's day. The walls are thick and strong, and even today the arches which may have been store rooms are still standing.
The tombs are not very heavily developed for tourists. The stairs leading up to them are a serious climb and the surface can be quite slippy as there is lots of sand about. This does mean though that there are still some really cool things to find there when exploring. One thing which looked like a big square block when viewed from the path turned out to be a big statue lying on it's side, which you could only see from above.
The Tombs at Aswan have probably not changed much for thousands of years. Many of them still have their 'false doors' carved into the rock outside, or even on a little slab. The false door was where the relatives of the dead person left food and offerings, and the spirit could magically rise up through this door and collect what had been left.
Some of the artwork in the tombs is still in remarkably good condition. This famous painting shows the tomb owner hunting and fishing. Sven really liked the little papyrus raft that the man is sailing on, and the little paintings of his family obviously enjoying a nice day out
Everywhere there is interesting stuff to see. Here Sven is taking a rest from the heat on top of what looks like a stone support holding up a big block. Unfortunately he didn't have a spade with him so he couldn't check if there was anything underneath.
The fact that some of the smaller un-painted tombs have never been properly cleared means that there are still traces of the original contents inside and around them.
In one that Sven crawled into there were even still traces of the original occupants. Luckily Sven didn't recognise his finds as being human bone from smashed up mummies.
