Temple of Philae

The island of Philae, famous for centuries for its rich heritage of temples, now lies submerged beneath the waters of Lake Nasser to the south of Aswan. Thankfully, however, when the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s the island’s temples were dismantled and then reconstructed on the higher terrain of nearby Agilkia Island, which was prepared and landscaped to look like the original Philae.

The ancient Egyptians saw in their name for Philae an etymology with the meaning “island of the time [of Re]” – i.e., creation; but the island’s history is a fairly late one. The earliest evidence of religious structures goes back only to the time of Taharqa (25th dynasty), and it was not still the Graeco-Roman Period that Philae rose to importance. Philae was, however, the cult centre par excellence of Isis who was revered throughout much of the Roman world; and the site survived as a last outpost of the old pagan religion well into the present era, not being officially closed till the reign of Justinian in AD 550.

The monuments of Philae are numerous. Beginning at the ancient quay where boats now land at the southwestern corner of the island, the first structure is the kiosk of Nectanebo I, the oldest structure still standing here. To the north, the processional way leads to the main temple of Isis. The western half of the colonnade is the more complete and is pierced with windows originally looking out toward the island of Biga; a nilometer descends the cliff from here.

The eastern side of the colonnade, which was never completed, reaches only to the destroyed temple just opposite. This was the temple of the rather obscure Nubian god Arensnuphis who was venerated here as the companion of Isis. Other structures also stand behind the eastern colonnade, notably the ruined chapel of Mandulis, another Nubian deity, at the southern end and the better-preserved chapel of Imhotep (the deified chief architect of Djoser) to the north.

The entrance to the main temple is fronted by the pylon of Ptolemy XII which is decorated with the canonical scenes of the king dispatching enemies and which contains both a main (earlier) portal and a subsidiary gate in the west tower leading into the birth house of Ptolemy VI and later rulers. The mammisi (birth house) is similar in plan and decoration to those of Dendarah and Edfu, but here shares roughly the same axis as the main temple. Its most notable scenes are those of Isis nusing the infant Horus in the marshes, carved on the outside of the back wall, and the triumphant Horus on the inner side of the same wall. A decorated colonnade with elegantly carved columns (as is the case with most of the columns of this temple) runs along the eastern side of the forecourt and fronts a number of chambers including a “library“ dedicated to Thoth. A Roman chapel stands in the court’s northeast corner before the second pylon which was built on a natural outcrop of rock and stands at an angle to the outer entrance. The second pylon opens to the hypostyle hall of the main temple, the first part of which is left open to so that it forms, in effect, a combined peristyle and hypostyle.

Beyond are the chambers of the inner temple – standard, if somewhat anomalously arranged – and the sanctuary, which still contains the pedestal, dedicated by Ptolemy III and his wife Berenike, of the barque of Isis (although the granite shrines were removed to European museums in the 19th century). As in other temples of the Graeco-Roman Period, the roof holds an Osiris room and other chambers, though here they are sunk well below the level of the roof at each of its four corners. The Osiris room has its own vestibule with scenes of the gods bewailing the dead Osiris, and the inner room contains scenes relating to the collection of the god’s scattered limbs.

A number of subsidiary pharaonic structures were built to the west of the Isis temple. A gateway of the emperor Hadrian, which stands before a stairway leading down to the river, contains several interesting scenes relating to the death and ultimate apotheosis of Osiris, including one of Isis who watches while a crocodile bears the body of her husband to an area representing the mound of Biga which rose from the Nile opposite this gateway. A little to the north are the ruins of the temple of Horus the Avenger (Harendotes), and yet further north are the remains of other structures, including a temple of Augustus and the quay and gateway of Diocletian.

To the east of the Isis temple stand the somewhat more substantial remains of a temple of Hathor, built by Ptolemies VI and VII, which preserves a number of scenes, including one of the king rejoicing before the goddess, along with figures of Bes, and an ape which plays a guitar-like instrument.

Just to the south is perhaps the most famous of Philae’s monuments, the kiosk of Trajan, nicknamed “pharaoh’s bed”. While the roof of this structure – presumably of wood – has long since disappeared, it is still imposing. Fourteen columns, connected by screen walls, support the great architraves over spanning this building, which once served as the formal entrance to the island.