Temple of Philae Features
As the center of the cult of Isis, the island of Philae was an important place of pilgrimage for worshippers until long into the Christian era. From Philae, Isis was said to watch over the sacred island of Biga, one of the mythical burial sites of her husband Osiris.
After the building of the Aswan Dam (1898-1902), the island’s temples were partly submerged in water and visitors took to rowing boats to peer at the remains. With the building of the High Dam (1960-71), the monuments were relocated to the nearby island of Agilika. The UNESCO-led project took from 1972 to 1980 to complete, during which time Agilika was landscaped to look like Philae.
Boats now drop visitors at the southern end of Agilika, near the oldest building on the island, the Kiosk of Nectanebo II, which dates from the 4th century BC.
From here, a long courtyard, flanked by colonnades, leads to the magnificent Temple of Isis, the main building in the Philae temple complex. Built in the late Ptolemaic and early Roman periods, the huge temple combines ancient Egyptian and Graeco-Roman architecture. Ptolemy XII
Neos Dionysos built the first pylon, which has scenes of him massacring his enemies, watched by Isis, Horns, and Hathor. The birth house, built by Ptolemy VI and altered by later rulers, is dedicated to Isis’s son Horns.
To the west of the temple lies the Gate of Hadrian, which was inscribed, in 24th August AD 394, with Egypt’s last hieroglyphics. On the eastern side of the island, the small Temple of Hathor contains reliefs of musicians, among them Bes, the god of singing.
Further south, close to the edge of the water, is the classically graceful, 14-columned Kiosk of Trajan, which has scenes of the Roman emperor burning incense in front of Osiris and Isis. At the northern end of the island, the Temple of Augustus and Gate of Diocletian lie in ruins.
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