The verdict
Before the long version
Go if
you are visiting the Unfinished Obelisk or Philae Temple and want your souvenir to be a good one.
Go elsewhere if
you are looking for a destination bookshop, because this is a stop, and a very good one.
01 / The visit
What it felt like
You will not plan a trip around this one, and that is fine, because you are already going to be standing about a hundred metres away. Obelisk Bookstore is a tiny shop beside the Unfinished Obelisk in Aswan, and it takes a corridor of wall between other shops and turns it into a bookstore by sheer determination. Every surface carries something. It is the most resourceful use of space we have scored.
Sixty-six out of a hundred. Good. Two reviewers, a July afternoon, and the lowest score in our record so far, which needs a sentence of explanation rather than an apology.
The BookScore asks twenty questions that a full-service bookshop can answer. This is a bazaar stall with a genuine point of view, and several of those questions simply do not apply to it. Selection and Curation lands at 14.5 out of 25 because the inventory is narrow: Egyptian history, Nubian culture, travel, and beautifully illustrated books on pharaonic art. Judged as a general bookstore that is a modest showing. Judged as a shop selling exactly the right books three minutes from a four-thousand-year-old quarry, it is close to perfect aim.
Atmosphere and Design scores 17.5, and the setting is doing a great deal of that work. One of our reviewers wrote, with visible delight, that you are literally at an ancient Egyptian temple. The room is small and packed and has no pretensions to being anything else, and the walls of books along a walking space between shops are a lesson in making the most of what you have.
Community Connection at 17 is the category that will reward a longer conversation than we had. What both reviewers found was staff who plainly know their subject and love it, which in a shop this size is most of what community means. What the scoring form is really asking about, events calendars and local partnerships, is not how a stall beside a quarry participates in its neighbourhood.
Practical Considerations comes in at 17. No cafe, no reading nooks, nothing to occupy small children. You are not going to settle in. You are going to browse the walls for fifteen minutes, talk to somebody who knows more about Upper Egypt than you do, and leave with a book or an old photograph that will mean something to you in a way an airport souvenir never will.
Go if you are visiting the Unfinished Obelisk or Philae Temple and want your souvenir to be a good one. Go elsewhere if you are looking for a destination bookshop, because this is a stop, and a very good one.
Sixty-six is the honest score of a shop that is doing something small extremely well. Take the fifteen minutes. It will be the part of the day you describe to people later.
02 / Photographs
Inside the bookshop
Frames we do not have:
- Somewhere to sit: We did not photograph a place to sit here, and we would rather leave the gap than show you somebody else's chairs.
03 / The receipts
Look under the score
Nothing is cleaned or hidden. Open as much of the record as you want.
Reviewer wordsEvery comment, exactly as submitted
What the reviewers said
Every scorer gets a box to write in beside each category. This is what both reviewers wrote, word for word, unedited and in the order the responses came in.
Selection & Curation
Small place but packed with books
Great Bazaar bookstore with a display of curated books for tourists and the local interests.
Atmosphere & Design
Literally at an ancient Egyptian temple. Amazing space.
This book store is a great example of making good use of space. It uses the walls of a walking space between shops to display an array of interesting books and gifts.
Community Connection
At a historical landmark with Aswan.
Found in the Coptic neighborhood in Cairo you can feel the strength and friendliness of the community.
Practical Considerations
After visiting the temple, visit the Obelisk bookstore.
Unique place to buy books.
Overall
Quaint little bookstore, packed with books.
Full scorecardAll twenty criteria and every reviewer total
How this score was made
Two reviewers scored twenty criteria on 8 July 2026, each from 1 to 5, under method bookscore-1.0. Their totals were 68 and 64 out of 100, and the published score is their average, 66.0. Nothing has been excluded, adjusted or reweighted. Every number any of them gave is below.
Reviewers are anonymous. They are labelled in the order their responses were submitted, and Reviewer 1 here is not necessarily Reviewer 1 in another visit.
| Category | R1 | R2 | Average | Of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Selection & Curation | 17 | 12 | 14.5 | 25 |
| Atmosphere & Design | 20 | 15 | 17.5 | 25 |
| Community Connection | 17 | 17 | 17.0 | 25 |
| Practical Considerations | 14 | 20 | 17.0 | 25 |
| Total | 68 | 64 | 66.0 | 100 |
Every criterion
| Criterion | R1 | R2 | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selection & Curation | |||
| Breadth and depth of inventory | 2 | 2 | 2.0 |
| Local author representation | 3 | 3 | 3.0 |
| Staff picks quality | 3 | 2 | 2.5 |
| Unique or rare finds | 4 | 1 | 2.5 |
| Special collections | 5 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Atmosphere & Design | |||
| Architectural interest | 5 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Reading spaces | 2 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Photography potential | 5 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Music and ambiance | 5 | 3 | 4.0 |
| Overall comfort | 3 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Community Connection | |||
| Events calendar | 1 | 1 | 1.0 |
| Staff expertise and passion | 4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Local partnerships | 4 | 2 | 3.0 |
| Cultural significance | 5 | 5 | 5.0 |
| Neighborhood integration | 3 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Practical Considerations | |||
| Accessibility features | 3 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Parking and transit | 3 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Hours of operation | 4 | 4 | 4.0 |
| Amenities (café, wifi) | 2 | 3 | 2.5 |
| Family accommodations | 2 | 4 | 3.0 |
Where they disagreed
The reviewers’ totals ran from 64 to 68, a spread of 4 points. The widest single splits:
- Unique or rare finds: 4 and 1, a gap of 3
- Photography potential: 5 and 3, a gap of 2
- Music and ambiance: 5 and 3, a gap of 2
- Local partnerships: 4 and 2, a gap of 2
- Neighborhood integration: 3 and 5, a gap of 2
The review we postedThe short version, reproduced word for word
The review we posted
We posted this short review of the bookshop to Google Maps after our visit.
Read the review on Google Maps ↗
Obelisk Bookstore is one of those places you stumble on while exploring Aswan’s historic sites, and it turns a day of sightseeing into something unexpectedly special. Tucked right near the ancient Unfinished Obelisk, the shop itself is tiny, but every wall and surface is put to clever use, lined with curated books on Egyptian history, Nubian culture, and travel. The special collections focused on ancient Egypt are the real highlight here; if you want a beautifully illustrated volume on pharaonic art or a locally published guide to Upper Egypt, this is your spot. The setting gives the whole experience a sense of cultural weight you simply will not find at a chain bookstore, and the staff clearly know and love the subject matter. That said, this is very much a compact bazaar-style shop rather than a destination bookstore. Do not come expecting cozy reading nooks, a café, or a packed events calendar. The inventory is curated rather than deep, so if you are hunting for rare or niche titles beyond the Egyptology and tourism focus, you may leave empty-handed. Amenities are minimal, and families with young children will not find much to keep little ones entertained. Think of Obelisk Bookstore as the perfect companion stop after visiting the Unfinished Obelisk or Philae Temple. Pop in, browse the walls, chat with the knowledgeable staff, and pick up a book or vintage photograph as a meaningful souvenir of Aswan. It is a unique, culturally rich find for travelers and history lovers, even if it is not the kind of place you will spend an afternoon.