+201061123082 info@uptoursegypt.com
en_US English
en_US English pt_BR Portuguese

Login

Sign Up

After creating an account, you'll be able to track your payment status, track the confirmation and you can also rate the tour after you finished the tour.
Username*
Password*
Confirm Password*
First Name*
Last Name*
Birth Date*
Email*
Phone*
Country*
* Creating an account means you're okay with our Terms of Service and Privacy Statement.
Please agree to all the terms and conditions before proceeding to the next step

Already a member?

Login
+201061123082 info@uptoursegypt.com
en_US English
en_US English pt_BR Portuguese

Login

Sign Up

After creating an account, you'll be able to track your payment status, track the confirmation and you can also rate the tour after you finished the tour.
Username*
Password*
Confirm Password*
First Name*
Last Name*
Birth Date*
Email*
Phone*
Country*
* Creating an account means you're okay with our Terms of Service and Privacy Statement.
Please agree to all the terms and conditions before proceeding to the next step

Already a member?

Login
13Jun

Philae Temple in Aswan

Philae Temple in Aswan

Philae Island is one of the islands located in Aswan in the south of the Arab Republic of Egypt. The island of Philae is located in the middle of the Nile River, as we know that the Nile River makes its way throughout the Republic from south to north. Philae is located more specifically near Aswan and not in Aswan itself.

The Philae Temple is known to be located in Aswan, but the temple is not located in the city itself. Rather, it is close to the west from the Naga area of ​​Mount Shisha, and is located to the south of the island of Agilika. It also extends on the Aswan Road near Abu Simbel, as it is on the western bank of the Nile River, which meets the Abu Simbel district. The temple extends parallel to the High Dam Road in Aswan due to its presence on the eastern bank of the Nile, and this is precisely the location of the Philae Temple.

The origin of the name of this temple is due to the fact that this island was named at a time when the Greek language was prevalent, and the word elephant in the Greek language means beloved, and this temple was named during the era of the Greeks. However, this temple has an Arabic name, and in the Arabic name, the Arabs called the island of Philae the name Anas al-Wujud, and the name of the island was Anas al-Wujud. As for the temple, the Arabs called it the Philae temple, as it is according to the Greeks. The island where the temple is located was called by this name according to the legend contained in the famous stories that we know as the novel or the legend of the Thousand and One Nights. In the ancient Egyptian language, this island was called Belach, which means the end, because it was the end of Egypt.

Philae Island Philae Island is the one that includes on its land the temple, and this island has been characterized since ancient times by the presence of many temples that were built above it, and this island has been of great importance in all ages. Because it is a land that includes the oldest temples dating back to fifteen centuries BC, and there are monuments built during the reign of Tuthmosis III, and after more than a thousand years, King Nectar built a huge temple and then built it by Ptolemy Philadelphia. After that, every king was keen to leave a temple on this island, which made it a land for building and erecting temples. The Philae Temple was the temple dedicated to the goddess Isis.

Philae Temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, as she is a goddess known to the ancient Egyptians as the goddess of motherhood and the moon, and the worship of the gods Isis from both the ancient Egyptians, the Romans, and the Ptolemies. This temple was subjected to drowning from the waters of the Nile several times, so it was moved from its place to the northern island known as Agilika Island, as it was on the island of Philae and all people knew this, but with the drowning it was necessary to move it. The transfer took place not far from the island of Philae, since between the island of Agilika and the island of Philae is only about half a kilometer. Egypt went through many civilizations, including what was under the rule of the Roman Empire, and it was a sprawling empire that had important facilities in Egypt, such as the bed of Pharaoh built by the Roman ruler Trajan on the island of Philae.

History of the Temples of the Island of Philae The Temple of Philae was built to worship the goddess “Isis” in all centuries, and in these temples a crowd of worshipers, each of them repeated the story to revive the story and make the death and resurrection of Osiris a legend. The Great Temple was built in the third century BC, after which the temples of Amenhotep and Arsnovis were built. Then the temple of Hathor was built during the reign of the Ptolemies, and its construction was completed only in 116 BC by Euergetes II. There are many other Ptolemies who added some drawings and inscriptions to the Temple of Philae, and although they are only touches, they are among the masterpieces of the temple. And from Egypt, the worship of the goddess Isis extended and moved to many civilizations, where the people of Greece, the people of Rome, and in various parts of the empire followed it, until the Roman rule was applied in Egypt. Then the rulers wanted to beautify the sacred island as Emperor Augustus Caesar built a temple at the northern end of Elephant in the middle of the 9th century BC. As for Tiberius leaving monuments, Claudius, Trajan, Hadrian and Diocletian built various buildings on the island until the fourth century AD. The cult of Isis dominated on the island of Philae, until a decree came from Emperor Theodosius in AD 391, imposing Christianity on all parts of the Roman Empire. In AD 550, during the reign of Justinian, Christianity arrived on the island, and the island of Philae was turned into a colonnaded hall for the practice of the new religion there. When Islam came, elephants were kept to be a legendary fortress, as it was a fortress mentioned in one of the stories of One Thousand and One Nights, and it was called Anas Al Wujud, which is the name of a hero of one of the stories in One Thousand and One Nights.

This temple was flooded by the waters of the Nile, it was divided and reassembled, and after it was on the island of Philae, it is located in a new location and is above the island of Agilika now. The Temple of Philae has become a tourist attraction, and the visitor can enjoy the past, as well as the present, whereby watching the sound and light show at night. The Temple of Philae in many civilizations is called the Temple of Isis, and it is one of the largest monuments in the group of temples built on the island of Philae. The Temple of Philae was located on about a quarter of the island’s area, and it had other ruins on the island of Philae, such as the shrine of “Nakhtenbo I” (the Thirtieth Dynasty), and rows of columns dating back to the Roman era. Next to it is the Greek-Roman Ares Office, the Mandulis Temple, which dates back to the Roman era, the Imhotep Temple, which dates back to the Ptolemaic period, and there are many monuments and temples dating back to the Ptolemaic era, such as the Temple of Hathor.

The Philae temple was saved from drowning, and since the transfer, it has not been sunk again, nor by factors that make it lose its basic structure. As the site on the island of Philae was wet and prone to drowning at any time, and the transfer process took about two years, as the waters of the Nile surrounded the island of Philae and its temples from all sides, and of course this is a threat to the archaeological value.

en_USEnglish
pt_BRPortuguese en_USEnglish