The natural citadel of Qasr Ibrim in Northern Nubia occupied for thousands of years a strategic position between Egypt and the Middle Nile region, it is located 235 KM to the south of Aswan, the, the area is built on high hillock overlooking the Nile opposite Aniba village. Qasr Ibrim is the only major archaeological site in Lower Nubia have survived the Nile floods, it was originally a major city perched on a cliff above the Nile, but the flooding of Lake Nasser after the construction of the Aswan High Dam transformed it into an island and flooded its outskirts.
The area is full of monuments that date back to various parts of history, including tombs of the Nubian rulers during the New Kingdom times; they ruled Nubian during Thutmosis III.
The citadel had a very important rule throughout the ancient Egyptian history and later. It is the source of the largest collection of Old Nubian documents ever found, including the records of the Eparch. The site was inhabited until the 1840s. Today the island is closed to all but archaeologists.
This important site derives its name from the nearby village of Ibrim, on the east bank of the Nile. Qasr Ibrim is also notable for its fortress of Qasr Ibrim ("The Castle of Ibrim"), which certainly stood on older pharaonic foundations. Partly built "in Roman times under the prefecture of Gaius Petronius during Augustus' reign," it was originally a pharaonic site with material from the New Kingdom and later periods of Egyptian history being found here.
In the west slope of the fortress hill, there existed several "rock-cut memorial chapels dedicated by various Viceroys of Kush to New Kingdom rulers and various deities." During the salvage operations carried out when the Aswan dam was being constructed, "their reliefs were cut away and removed to the vicinity of New Wadi es-Sebua. A large rock stela of Seti I with his serving viceroy of Kush Amenemope which used to be [located] south of the fortress of Qasr Ibrim were transferred to the neighbourhood of New Kalabsha at Aswan.
During the Christian area, a church was built in there and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This area has yielded so many artefacts that are now in display at Nubian museum.