Temples of Philae

The Temples of Philae lie on one of the islands in the Nile River. Its original place was on Philae Island in Aswan. The ancient Egyptian name of Philae was Pilak, from which the Greek and Latin name “Philae” derives. The local people called it El-Qasr during the Islamic period, or the Castle in English. Also, they named it Geziret Anas el-Wogud, after the hero of one of the tales in the “Arabian Nights“. According to this tale, her father locked her up on Philae. Therefore, this hero traced his beloved to this island.

Location of the Temples of Philae

After building the High Dam in Aswan, there was a need to move this complex to the next island, Agilika. For this reason, Egypt welcomed the help of UNESCO. Thus, the engineers and builders decided to rebuild this temple complex on Agilika Island, located 12 km to the south of the High Dam.

History of Philae Temples

The oldest surviving temple buildings date back to Nectanebo I (370 BC), while the Great Temple of Isis is the most prominent building in this complex. In the last two centuries BC, the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Roman Emperors erected the imposing structures in the first three centuries AD.

As Nubians were the last to convert to Christianity, the temple remained serving the goddess Isis until Justinian announced Christianity as the country’s country’s official religion (AD 527-565). After that, the Christians used it as a church.

The island was one of the most beautiful places in Egypt and attracted large numbers of visitors every year. Just after the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1922, water merged it for the more significant part of the year. For this reason, the temples were accessible only between August and December. Once again, another event dramatically threatened the existence of this fantastic complex: building the High Dam in Aswan. Therefore, UNESCO helped move this complex to the next safe island between 1972 and 1980.

Features of the Temples of Philae

The Temple of Goddess Isis

Here, we will take a close look at the temple structure of the goddess Isis. This temple is the most ancient part of the Philae complex. Historically, Nectanebo I built it during 380-362 BC. At that time, the Ancient Egyptians approached this temple from the river through a double colonnade.

First Pylon

The First Pylon towers 18-meter high, and it gets reliefs of Nectanebo I. On the front side of the eastern pylon, we see a vast relief that depicts Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysos. The depiction shows he grasps enemies by the hair and raises a slub to smite them. At the same time, one can notice the relief shows three gods standing with the king: Isis, the falcon-headed Horus of Edfu and Hathor. Above this relief, there are two more reliefs of Neos Dionysos. These two reliefs show how he presents the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt to Horus and Nephthys. He is offering incense to Isis and Harpocrates on the left-hand side on the right-hand side.

It is important to note that Euergetes II erected two granite lions and two granite obelisks in front of the first tower. On discovery, the obelisks were intact. Later, one of them got broken in antiquity. In the nineteenth century, William John Bankes shipped the Philae obelisks on which this petition was engraved to England.

On the western side of the doorway, we shall see the reliefs for Philometor. This elegant gateway has Ptolemy II Philadelphus relief on its lintel and Emperor Tiberius on the jambs. The gateway, built by Philadelphus, originally stood on a brick wall. It leads directly to the Birth House, Mammisi.

The First Court

The Birth House stands on the western side of the First Court. It is surrounded on all four sides by colonnades; the columns have foliage capitals surmounted by sistrum capitals. Euergetes II, Neos Dionysos, Augustus, and Tiberius covered the walls, columns, and screens between the columns with reliefs and inscriptions. The Romans dedicated this “Mammisi” to Hathor-Isis in honour of the birth of her son Horus. However, the Romans surrounded the Mammisi walls with reliefs that depict the childhood of Horus. These reliefs show Horus as a falcon in the swamps of the Delta Nile and Isis suckling Horus in these wetlands.