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The temple of Philae
At feet of the lake Nasser, between the High dam and the old dam, is the pearl of the temples of Egypt: the temple of Philae. Formerly, this temple dedicated to Isis and Osiris was situated on the small island of Philae. But it was regularly flooded because of the Old dam and during almost 70 years, you had to visit the temple in boat.
This magnificent temple was moved about 300 metres of its original place and is on the island of Aguilkya. The visits are not any more made in boat, but it is however necessary to take the boat to go there...
Boats to go to the island
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The island of Aguilkya
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This temple was begun with the last Pharaohs of Egypt and ended by the Roman emperors. What explains the various architectural styles which you can find on the island. You can find for example the temple built in the tradition of the Egyptian temples with the sculptured masts, but also the kiosks of Roman tradition, as the Trajan's kiosk.
The temple of Philae
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The Trajan's kiosk
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The temple of Philae
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The temple of Philae
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The Trajan's kiosk
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On the masts of entrance are represented big frescoes the characters of which have the beaten faces. This hammering was realized by the Copts when they used the temple to make a Coptic place of worship. These faces summer for them of the alive devils and the only way of killing them was of lles to beat.
The left mast
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The right mast
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As all the Egyptian temples, the inside is richly decorated. There is no single square centimeter which is not covered with bas-reliefs or hieroglyphs. In here is some examples:
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