Gebel el-Silsila or Gebel Silsileh (Arabic: جبل السلسلة - Jabal al-Silsila or Ǧabal as-Silsila – "Chain of Mountains" or "Series of Mountains"; Egyptian: ẖny, Khenyt,[1] Kheny or Khenu – "The Place of Rowing"; German: Dschabal as-Silsila – "Ruderort", or "Ort des Ruderns" – "Place of Rowing"; Italian: Gebel Silsila – "Monte della Catena" – "Upstream Mountain Chain") is 65 km (40 mi) north of Aswan in Upper Egypt, where the cliffs on both sides close to the narrowest point along the length of the entire Nile.

A stele from the early part of Akhenaten's reign shows the king offering to Amun beneath the winged sun-disk.

Almost all of Ancient Egypt's great temples derived their sandstone from here,[2] such as Karnak,[2] Luxor,[2] Ramesses III's Medinet Habu, Kom Ombo, and the Ramesseum.

The Roman coins of the Ombite nome exhibit the crocodile and the effigy of the crocodile-headed god Sobek.

Elsewhere Ramesses II is depicted in the company of his Vizier Neferronpet, while offering Maat to Ptah and Sobek.

Panehesy is also depicted on a stele showing Merenptah, Queen Isetnofret, and Prince Sety-Merenptah (later Seti II).

These include shrines for the Scribe of the Treasury of Thutmose, the Overseer of the Seal of Min (from the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III), an official named Maa, and the Scribe of the Nome Ahmose (from the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III).

One shrine belonged to an official dated to the reigns of Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III: User, vizier.

A shrine at this site records User's family, including his father Amethu called Ahmose.

[7] A shrine with stele on three sides depicting Amenhotep III is located at Gebel el-Silisila East.

Another stele shows the Commander of troops of the fortress of the Lord of the Two Lands, named Hapi adoring the cartouche of Sety I.

[2] The ruins are one of the few remnants of the settlement of Kheny or Khenu, the ancient Egyptian name, meaning "Rowing Place", for Gebel el-Silsila.

[2] The finding confirms that Gebel el Silsila is a sacred site in addition to its quarry function.

[5] The worship center was described as a destroyed Ramesside[2] temple on a 1934 published rudimentary map by Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt[2] after being recorded between 1906 and 1925.

[2] Two painted sandstone fragments indicate that the temple's ceiling had an astronomical motif with stars and sky representing the celestial heavens.

[2] The rediscovery and on-site work have been conducted since 2012 by teams led by archeologists Maria Nilsson[2] and John Ward[2] as part of the Gebel el Silsila Survey Project.

[5] According to Nilsson:[2] The oldest building phase of the temple was made up by limestone, which is unique within a sandstone quarry, and may signify the official changeover from limestone construction to sandstone.The entire site of Gebel el Silsila covering about 20 square kilometers is in a multi-year epigraphic survey project directed by archaeologist Maria Nilsson[2] under the auspices of Lund University,[2] and assistant-director John Ward.

Emphasis has been placed on the east bank due to insufficient recording in the past and deteriorating conditions in the present epigraphically.

In February in 2019, joint Swedish-Egyptian archaeologists revealed a 16.4-feet longs and 11.5-feet high ram-headed sphinx (or a criosphinx) carved from sandstone dated back to the reign of Amenhotep III.

In addition to this finding, an "uraeus" or wrapped cobra symbol and hundreds of stone fragment engraved with hieroglyphs were also found.

Wintertime is very pleasant and enjoyable while summertime is unbearably hot with blazing sunshine, made only more bearable because the desert air is dry.