Ancient ruins on Elephantine Island, Egypt, 1943

Photograph by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC, 3rd County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters), World War Two, North Africa, 1943.

A local child standing by a column carved with hieroglyphics, Elephantine Island, Aswan, Egypt, 1943 (c). Original caption read: 'Native by ancient ruins on Elephantine Island'.

Elephantine Island is on the River Nile and forms part of the city of Aswan in Upper Egypt. It is thought the island received its name from its shape when seen from the air, resembling an elephant tusk, or from the rounded rocks along the banks. In ancient Egyptian religion, Elephantine Island was the dwelling place of Khnum, the ram-headed god of cataracts, who guarded the waters of the Nile. It was the site of fortifications as well as a stone quarry which provided granite for monuments and buildings all over Egypt.

From an album of 206 photographs compiled by Major W H J Sale, MC, 3rd/4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters).