Suhail Island: the land of ancient granite inscriptions
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians took that island as a place for a long journey that came to it from the north or the south. Travelers to Nubia, or those returning from hunting or exploration trips from the south, resorted to it to perform the Hajj as a sacred island, to register on its rocks spread over its land Their pleas and prayers, and they record the events and trips they made to the countries of the South
Suhail Island is located four kilometers southwest of the city of Aswan, and it is a rather large island, located south of the first waterfall, specifically midway between the old city and the north of the old Aswan Dam, adjacent to it by a number of smaller islands, such as the Saloga Islands, Ambonarte, Elephantine , Kitchener, and dozens of small islands scattered around them
Suhail Island was known in the past as "Sats", or "Satis", or "Satit", and it is one of the gods in the ancient Egyptian religion. In the far south of Egypt, her name in hieroglyphic language means "to go forward", in a clear reference to the annual flood of the Nile, and she was at first a goddess of war, hunting, and fertility and was seen as the mother of the goddess, and protector of southern Egypt
Suhail Island was home to ancient Egyptian quarries, especially for the extraction of granite stones, which were used during different ancient Egyptian times, and there are many inscriptions in these granite rocks, and the English Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, during his visit to the island in 1887, took many photos For those inscriptions for the first time, to discover hundreds and thousands of inscriptions and schematic drawings that the Egyptian traveler engraved, either to date the beginning of his journey to Nubia, or to record what he saw during his journey before returning to Egypt, some of these inscriptions record ancient historical events, the most important panel of famine, which goes back To 4,600 years ago
About 4,500 people live on the island, and despite that it can only be accessed by one of the river boats, from the western side of the island, inscriptions and memorials begin to appear, in addition to a large number of preserved sculptures, offset by a large number of hieroglyphic inscriptions dedicated to Khnum And his wife, Anukis, and many other gods and many royal cartouches, and historians believe that standing on the island of Suhail gives us an idea of the danger of river trips for ships and Nile boats in that rugged region, so the Egyptian traveler felt the need to protect the divine
The painting known as "Famine Stela", or Famine Stela, is one of the most important and famous paintings on the island of Suhail. It is located at the top of the eastern hill of the island. It tells a story that takes place in the Third Dynasty, which monitors and documents seven years of drought and famine during the reign of King Djoser, and in the upper part From the painting, we find King Djoser making offerings to three of the Egyptian deities, namely Khnum, Satis and Anokhet, and many historians believe that this painting was carved in the era of the Ptolemies who ruled Egypt from 332 to 31 BC, and the French archaeologist Paul Barge translated the text In 1953, while Egyptologists such as "Myriam Yachtheim" and "Werner Physichel" are of the view that the local priests of Khnum composed this text
The Famine panel was engraved from a single granite block, the surface of which was cut to form a piece of smooth rectangle, containing 42 columns inscription in hieroglyphs, depicting three of the Egyptian gods, namely "Khnum", a god who was depicted in the form of a man with a ram's head and two horns. It is believed That he carried out the process of the physical creation of man from the silt of the Nile on a potter's wheel, the deity "Satis", the god of the Nile River in the south in the area of the First Cataract, and the deity "Anuket", the goddess of the Nile River, whose name means "embracing" many fields near the river that the water embraced All three of them stand facing King Djoser, holding offerings in his hands extended to them, and some parts of the painting have been damaged by a deep crack, making some passages of the text unreadable
As for the painting, it says that in the eighteenth year of the rule of Djoser, the waters of the Nile decreased and the river did not overflow, and this continued for seven whole years, which led to an increase in distress in the country. So he sent to the ruler of the upper countries, the head of the temples of the south, and the prince of the Nubians asking him for help, so the high priest and Imhotep advised him to offer sacrifices and sacrifices to the gods and goddesses of the "Abu" or current Aswan district. Some of the region’s bounties were in his favor, and he expanded his influence and granted him a lot of agricultural land, but many scholars and historians believe that this story is inspired by the imagination of the priests of Khnum
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