5.0 on Tripadvisor Licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesMinistry licensed guides On the river since 2011 Luxor and Aswan, every week
Gebel el Silsila is the great sandstone quarry of ancient Egypt, where the river runs between cliffs south of Edfu. Its ancient name, Kheny, means the place of rowing. The stone of the great temples of the south started here, and only the dahabiyas stop to show you where.
Written by Mo Adam, licensed Egyptologist guide since 2011. Updated 16 October 2026.
Four things not to miss at Kheny.
More than a hundred ancient quarries on both banks, worked from the Middle Kingdom to the twentieth century. Put your finger in the chisel marks and read the inscriptions the workers left.
A rock-cut temple from the reign of Horemheb, with seven gods seated in its sanctuary, Sobek the crocodile among them. Photo: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0
Thirty two chapels cut for New Kingdom high officials, most from the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, in a line above the river.
The Nile narrows between the sandstone cliffs, the reason for the ancient name: Kheny, the place of rowing.
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Sailing past the quarry cliffs on a dahabiya, filmed by Mo.
The quarries of Gebel el Silsila supplied the sandstone that built the great temples of the south, Luxor among them, and they stayed in use from the Middle Kingdom right up to the twentieth century. Sety I, Ramesses II and Merenptah cut shrines here, Ramesses III left a great stela, and the gods of the river, Sobek the crocodile and Hapy of the inundation, were honoured on its banks. A Swedish mission from Lund University has documented the site since 2012, recording thousands of quarry marks, hundreds of texts, and abandoned obelisks still lying where a crack stopped the work.
Gebel el Silsila is visited on dahabiya routes only, with a licensed Egyptologist. It is a stop on the 4-night Luxor to Aswan sailing of the Three Pyramids and Nour El Din dahabiyas, leaving Luxor on Mondays, and on the Princess Farida. The Swan can stop here on request.
Only dahabiyas. On our routes, Gebel el Silsila is a stop for the Three Pyramids and Nour El Din on the 4-night Luxor to Aswan sailing, leaving Luxor on Mondays, and for the Princess Farida. The Swan can stop here on request. Large cruise ships sail past without stopping.
Yes. On our dahabiya cruises the visits on the sailing route and their entrance fees are part of the price.
No. There is no ship dock here, so the ships sail through. The dahabiyas moor below the monuments.
It is a short, mostly level walk along the bank from the mooring to the Speos and the chapels.
Tell us your dates and we will send back the dahabiyas that fit, with honest answers.
See also Kom Ombo Temple, further south on the same stretch, and our article on the small sites only dahabiyas visit.
