The
Temple of Isis at Philae is a modern complex. Well, compared to many of the other sites you will visit in Egypt it is. Its remains date from the period of Ptolemaic and later Roman rule, and hence were constructed at least a thousand years later than, say,
Abu Simbel. These new interloper dynasties (hailing from Macedonia and Italy respectively) found it made sense to associate themselves with Egypt's indigenous pantheon to win over their new subjects. Of all the Egyptian gods and goddesses it was that of Isis, the loving and mysterious mother-goddess, that spread furthest throughout the Roman empire. As wife of the slaughtered god Osiris and mother of Horus, with whom the pharoahs associated themselves, she attained the honoured position of quasi-mother to the rulers of Egypt. And the complex at Philae, opposite the holy Biga Island where part of Osiris' dismembered body was supposedly buried, was one of the cult's centres.
From Aswan you will need to hire a taxi to take you to Shallal, south of the British 1902 dam. Here there is a flotilla of simple boats that can ferry you across to the island. Apparently some of them can even get there in one trip without sputtering to a halt and requiring you to transfer to a second boat, but I wouldn't know about that!
The trip there takes you along the west side of the island, the dun coloured temple suddenly appearing between green palm fronds and the towering piles of grey boulders that frame the lake. You chug past a ceremonial gate constructed in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, the side of the tall wedge-shaped pylons, and a long colonnade topped with carved flowers to reach the landing stage at the southern tip of Philae. Disembarking, you progress down columned collonades (the western once looking over towards sacred Biga Island) to reach the large first pylon with its preternaturally clear carvings of gods cheering on the Ptolemaic pharoah Neos Dionysos (more smiting). The passageway is the site of yet more European graffiti, left by Napoleonic troops in Year 7 of the French Republic. Beyond there is a jumble of chambers, all adorned with engraved gods and supplicants, and telling the story of the raising of the infant Horus by Isis. A hypostyle hall leads down to the sanctuary. Apparently you can access the roof where there is sited a shrine to Osiris, but I found all the dark stairways forbiddingly gated off.
The remainder of the island is dotted by the architectural follies of a string of Roman Emperors, including Augustus, Trajan, Claudius, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius and Diocletian. The most eye-catching is the Kiosk of Trajan, a square roofless shrine which - with its angles thrown into clear relief by the afternoon sun, looks to have been designed by MC Escher. It has been nicknamed
'The Pharoah's Bedstead', for reasons that become clear upon viewing. Make sure you save space on your camera for one more shot of the Kiosk as you leave, as the boatride circles the isle to the east, offering a magical view of it overhanging the water.
On the trip back you may have pointed out to you some metal rods protruding from the water. This was the original site of Philae Island. After the British built the first Aswan dam in 1902 the temple would be submerged for half the year - tourists would peer down at the angles of masonry below them in the water. Once it became clear that the new Soviet-funded High Dam would drown the temple complex forever a UNESCO-sponsored operation dissasembled the brickwork and reconstructed it on the higher Agilka Island, painstakingly landscaped to resemble the topography of the original. The only difference is that its orientation no longer looks west towards Osiris's holy isle. Instead the god's remains are underwater somewhere to the east of Agilka Island.
Entry is E£40, but this does not include the cost of transport. The doorman at our hotel organised a Mercedes
taxi to take us to the landing stage for another E£40 roundtrip - this included boat fare which our taxi driver arranged for us (but not the baksheesh expected at the end of the trip). If you do organise a return make sure you are clear when and where your driver will be waiting for you. We had an anxious ten minutes contemplating a sweaty walk back to town when ours failed to turn up as expected.
Philae also hosts a son et lumiere show several times an evening. I did not go, but those of my friends who did rated it very highly - it takes you on a tour of the temple whilst relating the myths behind it. They also said that the voiceover was 'narrated' by a donkey, but I think they were pulling my leg... Tickets for this cost E£60, which is not much more than a normal unescorted ticket, and so works out as a pretty good deal.
For those of you into ancient remains, Philae is *the* site to see between Luxor and Abu Simbel. Moreover it is a darn sight easier to reach than Abu Simbel. At the very least its atmospheric columns and pylons, sited in the middle of a lake, make for a memorable visit. I think a trip will appeal to children in particular.
From journal Frontier of the Pharoahs