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Philae Temple of Isis

Travel pictures from Egypt

by Günther Eichhorn


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The Isis Temple in Philae is another temple that was saved from inundation by the reservoir, the Aswan Low Dam in this case. It is a beautiful temple dedicated to the Goddess Isis. Like the Horus Temple in Edfu and the temple of Kom Ombo, the Isis Temple was built in Ptolemaic times. It closely follows the same lay-out. The oldest remains were built by Nectanebo I (380 - 362 BCE). Most of the rest was started by Ptolemaios II Philadelphus (285 - 246 BCE). New parts were added till the reign of Diocletian (CE 284 - 305). Isis was worshiped there as late as 550 CE, when the emperor Justinian closed the temple.

The early Christians transformed the main temple's hypostyle into a chapel, they built some churches, and defaced the old reliefs. Their inscriptions in turn were defaced by the early Muslims.

After landing from your boat trip, you come to the Outer Temple Court, with colonnades along both sides. The entrance to the main temple is through two huge 18 m (60 ft) high pylons. They are decorated with huge reliefs of Ptolemaios XII (Cleopatra's father), smashing his enemies.

In the Great Court is the mammisim (birth house), dedicated to Horus. Each Pharaoh would take part in the mammisi ritual to establish his legitimacy.

The second pylons lead to a 10 column hypostyle hall, and from there into the Inner Sanctuary of Isis, where the gold statue of the Goddess Isis used to stand.

I also visited the Isis Temple at night for a light show. It was very scenic to see the lighted temple at night.

view isis temple View of the Isis Temple Complex from the east side, with the Kiosk of Trajan in the foreground left. (413k) isis temple philae Isis Temple of Philae. (462k) overall view isis Overall view of the Isis Temple, with the first and second pylons. (506k) view isis temple View of the Isis Temple complex from the right side. (338k) first pylon behind The first pylon behind the column colonnade of the Outer Temple Court. (500k)
close-up right part Close-up of the right part of the first pylon, showing Horus and his mother Isis (left) and the Pharaoh Ptolemaios XII smashing his enemies. (502k) view left part View of the left part of the first pylon, showing Isis (right) and the Pharaoh smashing his enemies. The left part of the pylon was defaced by early Christians, but the right part was mostly intact. (452k) view entrance gate View through the entrance gate of the first pylon towards the second pylon. (666k) entrance gate second Entrance gate in the second pylon. (613k) huge finely carved Huge, finely carved relief of the Goddess Isis. (584k)
relief god horus Relief of the God Horus, the son of the Goddess Isis. (590k) view column colonnade View of the column colonnade of the Outer Temple Court. (502k) column colonnade outer Column colonnade in the Outer Temple Court. Notice that each capital is different. (526k) view columns View of one of the columns. (514k) capital columns Capital of one of the columns. (474k)
decorations columns Decorations on one of the columns. (637k) decorations columns Decorations on one of the columns. (656k) defaced relief pharaoh The defaced relief of a Pharaoh. (617k) hieroglyphics stone horus Hieroglyphics stone with the Horus Sun Disk at the top. (773k) relief goddess isis Relief of the Goddess Isis, nursing her son Horus. (591k)
relief god thoth Relief of the God Thoth. (558k) early christian decorations Early Christian decorations. (503k) early christian altar Early Christian altar. (537k) inscriptions early explorers Inscriptions of early explorers. (419k) defaced reliefs temple Defaced reliefs in the temple. (770k)
relief sacred barge Relief of the sacred barge that was used to transport the golden statue of the Goddess Isis to festivities. (462k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (690k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (597k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (672k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (335k)
isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (360k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (384k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (307k) isis temple night Isis Temple at night during the light show. (347k) first pylon night The first pylon at night during the light show. (510k)
second pylon night The second pylon at night during the light show. (1201k) hypostyle hall night The hypostyle hall at night. (1006k) kiosk trajan during The Kiosk of Trajan during the light show. (590k) kiosk trajan The Kiosk of Trajan. (537k) kiosk trajan The Kiosk of Trajan. (463k)


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