The Island Sehel - An Epigraphic Hotspot

Unveiling the Secrets of Sehel - Ongoing Epigraphic Research
For almost 30 years, the German Archaeological Institute, in close co-operation with the
Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, has been working on the epigraphic heritage of the Aswan
region. Since 2014, the team has also been conducting field work on Sehel. Its aims are to
check and revise already published copies of texts, to survey and protect the area, as well
as to detect and to document so far unknown rock inscriptions and images. Additionally,
all available information about the local landscape and the ancient environment is being
gathered. Thus, the scholars try to answer crucial questions regarding the different
functional aspects of the island and the chronology of its usage during Pharaonic times.
Amongst others, until now more than 60 dynastic rock images, mostly standing
male figures lacking an inscription, were newly discovered. These figures can be
considered as self-representations of a semi-literate or illiterate personnel employed on
Sehel Island from the Old Kingdom onwards and seem to be connected rather to the
island’s function as an important check point within the First Cataract than to the local
cult of Anuket. While controlling and monitoring the border area south of Aswan, these
people seem to have depicted themselves and their professional routine in the immediate
vicinity of their workplace. It can be expected that further research on those depictions
may shed light on various aspects such as the economic function and the evolution of
the epigraphic usage of the island of Sehel, which are not yet entirely understood.
How to Get to Sehel Island
A 20 minute motor boat or felucca trip from Aswan Harbour
upstream the Nile, will get you to Sehel Island. Also, it is possible to
take the local public ferry, a rowing boat, which is signed from the
road south of the Aswan Stadium. At the landing place, a path leads
up from the river bank to the entrance of the archaeological site
with its two large hills of Hussein Tagug and Bibi Tagug, which are
now enclosed by a metal fence.