Village on top of sandstone cliffs bordering the Nile River, near Abu Simbel, Egypt

"The 350km long stretch of the Nile from the Sudan border to 7km upstream from Aswan once flowed through a narrow valley bordered by sandstone cliffs but is now covered by the waters of the artificial lake known to Egyptians as Lake Nasser and to Sudanese as Lake Nubia. As the river passed Elephantine, however, the confining hills drew back, the Nile waters spread into the flood plain, and the velocity diminished." [Kamil Jill, 1993: Aswan and Abu Simbel, History and Guide. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for American Institute of Architects, directing the Egyptian portion of the documentary on Ancient Egypt, March 1965 and September 1965.