The Second Cataract landscape, south of Wadi Halfa, Sudan

"The six primary cataracts of the Nile are shallow stretches between Aswan and Khartoum where the water's surface is broken by numerous small boulders and stones lying on the river bed, as well as many small rocky islets. In some places, these stretches are punctuated by whitewater and are perhaps well characterized as rapids, while in others the water flow is smoother. The six primary cataracts of the Nile were the main obstacles for boats sailing on the Nile in antiquity. Counted upstream, the First Cataract is in modern Egypt; the rest are in Sudan. The Second Cataract (or Great Cataract) was in Nubia and is now submerged in Lake Nasser (21.48° N 30.97° E)." This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.