Tombos

Tombos sits at the Third Cataract where granite outcrops break the Nile, and the Egyptians quarried the stone there from the New Kingdom onwards, leaving an unfinished royal colossus lying in the rock where it cracked and was abandoned. Inscriptions cut into the boulders record Thutmose I's campaign and later expeditions, and a cemetery nearby holds burials of Egyptian officials and Nubians together. Granite from here was moved a very long way down the Nile, and the quarry marks on the outcrops show how the blocks were split and lifted out.

What you actually see

• The unfinished colossus - the royal statue abandoned in the quarry when it cracked.
• The rock inscriptions - the carved records of Thutmose I and later expeditions.
• The cataract - the granite outcrops breaking the river.
• The cemetery - the burials of Egyptian officials and Nubians on the same ground.

When to go

November to February is the cool season. March to May is extremely hot. Low sun shows the inscriptions best.

Honest expectations

The site is unmarked and finding the inscriptions needs someone who knows them. There is no shade. Travel in Sudan requires arrangements made well in advance.

Nearby

Kerma is south, and Sai Island is north.