Sunday, April 10, 2016

Philae Temple

We took yet another mode of transportation...a river taxi, to get to Philae Temple. This was one of the temples that had to be moved from Philae Island in the 70's before the build of the High Dam.  Partially flooded by the Old Dam, a coffer dam had to be built around Philae Island and the water pumped out before the move could begin. Forty thousand blocks were moved 500 m to the new location on higher ground on Agilkia Island. Philae Island is now submerged under Lake Nasser.




River taxis

Coming up to Philae temple

The goddess of Isis dwelt in this temple 



Esplanade with composite columns....floral crowns topped with faces of the goddess  Hathor

Entrance of first pylon guarded by lions
                                                                                                       

Birthing house

Entrance to the main temple for Isis and her son Horus

Isis was represented as a woman with a sun disk between two horns. She was extremely important in Egyptian history. She represents women, nature and magic.  

Attempts to obliterate "pagan" images

Christian alter.  Coptic crosses were carved into some of the walls and pillars over the hieroglyphics
The kiosk of Trajan, a Roman emperor, was built to house the sacred ship of Isis. It once had a wooden roof. Its columns were intended to be carved with images of Bes (goddess of motherhood) but was never completed. 
Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 11, 2016 at 12:50 PM

    It looks amazing Susan. I would love to go to Egypt, its so full of history. Amazing photos and the sea looks so good it almost makes me want to jumps in.
    Did you love it? Xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. SusanApril 11, 2016 at 1:25 PM

    Actually, that is the Nile River in these photographs. It does look lovely. The colour was always beautiful, and yet the river is very polluted and wasn't fit for us to drink. I personally would not even want to swim in it. Egyptians could drink it, but our poor tummies would not be able to handle the bacteria.

    Egypt was full of history and wonder. Going there was a dream come true. I loved the culture and I loved the people. They were so friendly and accommodating.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NathalieApril 11, 2016 at 7:24 PM

    You seem to have surmounted your camera problems from the previous day. These are gorgeous! I know you said you were "templed out" (and I felt the same with all the churches when I went to visit Italy) but I appreciate all the photos you are sharing with us!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SusanApril 12, 2016 at 5:28 AM

    LOL. It is amazing what new batteries will do to the quality of photos, huh? And a nice new sunny day after a good night's sleep also does wonders. Thank you. This was a gorgeous temple. We should be very grateful that UNESCO stepped up to save it.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)