A quiet place that has not yet been flooded by the Nile’s sweeping waters or by the excessive technological wave, Heisa (originally El Heisa) is one of the last remaining Nubian islands to survive the building of the High Aswan Dam in the 1960s. The construction of the dam under Gamal Abdel Nasser took over swathes of Nubian territory, forcing more than 50,000 Nubian Egyptians out of their homes to neighboring islands. The only other remaining Nubian island between the dam and the reservoir is A’wad Island. Heisa’s inhabitants speak Kinzy – one of the two spoken tongues of the Nubian language, the other being Fijikey. “What’s special about Heisa is its serenity and nature,” says A’m Yasser, one of Heisa’s elders. “You can never find anything like it all over Egypt.” Heisa lies right between Aswan’s reservoir and the High Dam, not so far from Philae’s Temple. There, you can find spectacular rock formations and the Nile’s clear water. Walking through the island, you will also see beautiful Nubian colors painted on the walls of houses, as pictured below, thanks to the work of the Egyptian NGO Mashrou’ El…
