The Trip That Keeps Growing

Day 11 17 October 2021 Temple of Philae

We arrived in Aswan around breakfast time this morning. In ancient Egypt, Aswan, then known as Swenett or Syene after the goddess of childbirth, was the southern border of the empire and a military post against the Nubians, who lived further south in what is now Sudan. It should be noted that in the 8^th century BCE, the Nubians conquered Egypt and ruled as the 25^th Dynasty until it was overthrown by a native Egyptian pharaoh. That explains why so many Nubians called the area around Aswan their home (more on Nubia in the next blog). Aswan’s quarries also provided much of the granite used to build many of the sculptures and obelisks found throughout Egypt.

Today this area is considered one of the prettiest spots on the Nile, where the river flows through granite rocks and around lush green islands covered with palm trees and other tropical plants. It is Egypt’s favorite winter destination.

It is, of course, known most for its association with the Aswan Dam or Aswan High Dam to differentiate it from the Aswan Low Dam that was completed in 1902 further downstream of the current dam. The Aswan High Dam, an embankment dam across the Nile, was completed between 1960 and 1970 to control the yearly flooding of the river. To build the dam, it was necessary to relocate the temples in Abu Simbel (more on that in a later blog) and the Temple of Philae. The dam is a rock fill dam as opposed to a cement dam (like the Hoover Dam). When the dam was completed it resulted in the creation of Lake Nasser, one of the world’s largest man-made lakes which is now a major source of water for this area. While the dam has provided electrical power for Egypt and controlled the flooding, it has also caused a decrease in the fertility of the soil that depended on the silt deposited during the floods. We will visit the Dam on our last day in Aswan.

Our first visit upon arriving in Aswan was to the Temple of Philae, built as a Ptolemaic temple by King Ptolemaic II and dedicated to the goddess Isis. Built around 370 BC, it is said that its ancient Egyptian architecture was what inspired the Greek imagination. It is considered to be one of the last temples constructed in the classical Egyptian style. Additions to the temple were then made by succeeding Ptolemaic kings. It was first built on the island of Philae which the ancient Egyptians and Nubians regarded as sacred to their goddess Isis, known as the mother of God and the mother of every Pharaoh. When first built on the island of Philae, the Egyptians built a high wall around the island to protect the temple from the Nile floods. The Nubians who lived in this area regarded the temple as one of their most important sites.

With the construction of the the Aswan High Dam in 1960, it was discovered that the island upon which the Temple rested would be submerged under water. It was decided to relocate the temple and all the other buildings on the island to a safe island. However, the relocation could not occur until after the dam was completed and the Nile River stabilized. The new island is called Agilkia and it had to be completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible. To relocate the temple, Egyptian and UNESCO engineers had to first surround Philae Island with a coffer dam and drain the water from the island. Then they dismantled the temple and the other buildings on the island, stone by stone, numbering each stone, and finally replacing the stone in the same location on the new island. It took over 9 years to complete the relocation.

To get to the island, we traveled to a small Nubian village on the edge of the Nile and then went by small boats that are operated by the Nubians that still call this area home. They have had a rough time of it, and many are living below the poverty level. As such, OAT and our trip leader like to do as much as possible to help them earn a living by selling their crafts. They had a row of crafters as we walked to the boat, and on our return, many of us bought some of their crafts. I bought two small Nubian dolls.

Arriving at the temple, the first thing you see is the Gate of Ptolemy II, with its two pink granite lions standing in front of the first pylon. The area around the gate is surrounded by two large colonnades. At one time two pink obelisks joined the lions together. It was the hieroglyphs found on the obelisks that were used to compare with the ones found on the Rosetta stone and provided key information for deciphering the Egyptian alphabet. The temple might also be called the cat temple as it is home to many stray cats that are feed by the caretakers of the temple.

There are many reliefs and inscriptions in the Temple of Isis depicting scenes related to the Egyptian gods and goddesses. For example, on the First Pylon (near the gate) are scenes of Dionysis threatening Egypt’s enemies with his club and another of the pharaoh offering the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt to Horus and incense to Isis. On the Western Tower are scenes of Ptolemy XII offering sacrifices to the gods, particularly Horus.

Another common feature of the Ptolemaic temples is the Birth House or Mamissi, with scenes of Isis carrying her newborn Horus. It was here that the king conducted rituals that validated his descendancy from Horus.

Walking through the First Pylon, you come to an inner courtyard surrounded by columns. It was here that people would bring their offerings to the gods.

We then walked through a Second Pylon that led to the inner chambers of the temple. The first room you come to is the Vestibule where you can find Coptic symbols, evidence that the temple became a Christian church during the early Byzantine age. From the Vestibule, you enter into Isis’ Sanctuary which consists of a small room with two windows. The pedestal, placed there by Ptolemy III, still exists and has the image of Isis in her sacred boat.

A separate building is the Temple of Hathor Philae built by Ptolemy VI and VIII to honor both Isis and Hathor. It was here that ancient Egyptians drank, ate, and danced to music provided by Bes, the Dwarf God of humor, dancing, and music.

Trajan’s Kiosk (or the Kiosk of Philae or Pharaoh’s Bed), a roofless temple named after the Roman emperor, once stood at the entrance to the Nile River before being moved to Agilkia. Although bearing Trajan’s name, it is believed to have been built much earlier, but retains the name Trajan as he added the decorative carvings and instructions on the 14 columns. It also shows scenes of Trajan offering incense and wine to honor Osiris, Isis, and Horus. It is believed that this small structure was used to shelter Isis’ sacred boat.

Following our visit to the Temple, we traveled by boat to the shore where we took our bus back to the ship for lunch. We had the afternoon free to relax and lounge around the pool. About 4 PM, Mito took us to a spice market located across the street from our ship. Here we learned about the spices used in Egyptian cooking. While cumin is the most common spice, they also use a lot of coriander, cardamon, chili, aniseed, bay leaves, dill, parsley, ginger, cinnamon, mint and cloves. Many of these spices are mixed together to create rubs for meat, poultry, and fish. The smells were intoxicating, especially the powdered vanilla. I ended up buy some Saffron for Doug, and powdered vanilla, lemon tea, mint tea, and sesame coated peanuts. Miraculously the spices did not set off any alarms when we came back home through customs.