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Temple of Isis - Philea

2017.03.16

Temple of Isis

The Isis Temple of Philae near Aswan, seen from the Northwest. Like many other temples and villages along the Nubian stretch of the Nile, the temple on the island of Philae was destined to be submerged by the rising waters of the Nile, after the building of the Aswan Low Dam (1912) and High Dam (1964). The original island of Philae now lies submerged, but the temple was dismantled and reconstructed on the higher terrain of nearby Agilkia Island.

Philae's history is a fairly late one: the earliest evidence of religious structures dates from the time of the Nubian Pharaoh Taharqa (7th century BC). During the Graeco-Roman period Philae became the prime cult centre of Isis, who was revered throughout much of the Roman world. It survived as a last outpost of the old pagan religion till AD 550, when it was officially closed. The rocky hill that we see on the left side of the picture is the northern tip of the sacred island of Biga. It was home to one of the many tombs of Osiris that could be found in ancient Egypt.