There are a lot of temples in Egypt and I have seen many. But Philae is the "sweetest" one, romantic not only because of its devotion to Isis and her love to Osiris, but also its architecture and redesign. The ceiling helps phantasy easily to float back for more than 20 centuries.
A tour with a guide is highly
recommended to recognize and understand the traces of different cultures during the centuries!
Philae is offered as a package (during the day) to visit Philae, Highdam and
the Unfinished
Obelisk (prices please see left side) or a package including Kalabsha Temple, Beit Al-Wali and Kertassi.
Philae is dedicated to Isis - the Goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility. As symbolic mother of the king, she appears as a woman with a throne-shaped crown, or sometimes depicted with the sign of motherhood and fertility: the two horns and the solar disc between them. Her cult spread over Europe since the Greco-Roman period.
The cult of Isis at Philae goes back to the 7th century BC, but the earliest remains date from the 4th century BC.
And Isis was being worshipped at Philae until the 6th century AD!
By Roman times Isis had become the greatest of all the Egyptian gods, worshipped right across the Roman Empire even as far as Britain.
Early Christians transformed Isis Temple into a chapel and defaced many of the reliefs - these which were not buried from the sand. Muslims later destroyed their inscriptions.
(One can still see by the color of the stones the waves from the sand).
Later, French soldiers fghting for Napoleon Bonaparte left their graffities.
After Old Aswan Dam (1902) was built, Philae was swamped half of each year by the high waters, so tourists rented rowing boats to glide among the columns and peer down through the water of the Nile to marvel at Philae Temple.
When Aswan High Dam was completed in 1971, the temples on Philae would have entirely disappeared, but they were rebuilt by the UNESCO on a nearby Island: Agilkia.
Informations about Sound and Light Show:
Visit the Sound and Light Show
and see schedule (without
responsibility taken):
http://www.soundandlight.com.eg/Default.aspx
Photos:
• Above - during the Sound and Light Show
• Isis (during the Sound and Light Show)
• Altar from early Christians who used Isis Temple as a Chapel
• One still can see where the sand protected the stones
Pictures left:
• Philae seen from the boat (2x)
• Exit Philae
• Kiosk of Trajan
• Overseer at Philae
• Kiosk of Trajan during the Sound and Light Show
1- 4 left: thank you Vincent Poon, HongKong!
other photos: Petra Dressler
Philae, Highdam, Obelisk
including guide:
Pick up with
microbus (air condition) from your hotel,transfer and boat for you to bring
you to the island, visit at Philae. boat back, drive with the car to visit
Highdam and Obelisk,all with guide
350 EGP with car (1 or 2 persons)
400 EGP with microbus (3 or more persons)
Tickets not included:
Philae 50 EGP
Highdam 20 EGP
Obelisk 30 EGP
Option: Add
Kalabsha Temple, Beit Al-Wali and Kertassi
please see:
Philae,
Highdam, Obelisk plus Kalabsha Temple
Sound and Light Show at Philae, pick up from your hotel and the driver will be waiting for you during the show, including boat to go to Philae and come back:
With Microbus:
250 EGP
With Limousine:
200 EGP
Ticket:
75 EGP
Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile River flooded every year because of Isis' tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris.
Please read more about their legend on this website.
Herodotus (Greek historian, 5th century BC) reported, that an Egyptian official had told him that the First Cataract was the source of the Nile, which flowed north and south from there. (Today, after highdam was built, the Nile is not as wild anymore but rather quiet.)
The Nile was an important part of the ancient Egyptian spiritual life. The god named Hapy was the deification of the annual floods, and both he and the pharaoh were thought to control the flooding of the Nile.
The Nile was considered to be a causeway from life to death and the afterlife. The east was thought of as a place of birth and growth, and the west was considered the place of death, as the god Ra, the Sun, underwent birth, death, and resurrection each day as he crossed the sky.
Thus, all tombs were located west of the Nile, because the Egyptians believed that in order to enter the afterlife, they must be buried on the side that symbolized death.
Photos:
• Above - Isis and Osiris receive gifts from the pharao in the Sanctuary - to me one of the most romantic reliefs in Egypt, altough the faces have been destroyed.
• Captains and boats are waiting for guests
• Philae seen from the boat
• Columns with Hathors face, who helped Isis to give birth to Hathor
• Not seen often: Bes - God fond of music and dancing; he kept evil from the home and prtected womenin childbirth
Photos: Petra Dressler
