Temple of Philae In Aswan. you can find many attractions, where you can highlight the beauty of the Nile, the colors of the Nubians, and the temples. Many of the temples in Aswan were on the islands and so were submerged in water from the Nile by the flood.
Philae Island is a very important island in Aswan. The Island of Philae was full of temples, dedicated to the goddess Isis because Isis was the goddess of the Island. These temples were built during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. One of the famous temples of the Island is the Temple of Philae.
The History of the Temple of Philae
The Temple of Philae was built by the Ptolemaic. The Temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis (goddess of motherhood, healing, and birth), her husband Osiris, and her son Horus.
The temple is very important since it is one of the last places where the ancient Egyptian religion survived after the arrival of Christianity until 550 A.D. The first Christians transformed the temple into a church where they disfigured many of the statues of the ancient gods and destroyed their images.
The Island of Philae was submerged after the construction of the Lower Aswan Dam. Then area sank during the construction of the High Dam so it was moved to another higher island.
Relocation of the Temple of Philae
The Temple is not in its original location. The Temple was on Philae Island but because of the annual flood, the Island was underwater and after the construction of the Lower Dam, it remained like that.
During the construction of the High Dam, the Temple would be submerged forever, and difficult to save it. In 1960 UNESCO cut the stones of the Temple (almost 40 thousand stones) and moved another island to it, “the Island of Aguilkia”. The Temple was moved stone by stone with great care.
The Construction of the Temple of Philae
The temple was built following the same model of the architecture of the new empire of Egypt with some elements of the Greco-Roman period, such as; the nilometer that was used to measure the clarity of the Nile River and the water level during the annual flood.
At the entrance, there is a door 18 meters high. Then there are varied columns that give access to several rooms. There is also the Birth House dedicated to the birth of Horus.
The walls are decorated and better preserved. The inscriptions on the walls tell the legend of Isis and Osiris. There are also Christian, Roman, and Pharaonic reliefs.
The Mythology of the Temple; according to the legend when Osiris married the goddess Isis, his brother Set killed Osiris and cut him to pieces.
Then Set distributed the pieces of the body of Osiris to all Egypt. The wife Isis collected the body of her husband and stirred him to life. Then Isis took the Isle of Philae as a refuge for Seth.
Explore the Temple of Philae
Jakada Tours Egypt offers you a wonderful and organized trip. You can also enjoy an unforgettable vacation in the attractive destinations of Egypt by our Egypt travel packages, starting from Cairo and Alexandria in Lower Egypt to Upper Egypt to discover its monuments by a cruise on the Nile between Luxor and Aswan.
