Philae temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis, wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus.
These three gods dominate the ancient Egyptian religion.
The temple of Philae is situation 12 kilometers south of Aswan. The temple originally situated in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan was called “Apo” by the ancient Egyptians, meaning ivory. The Greeks called it “Elephantine” perhaps due to it being an important trade centre for ivory.
This temple has been moved brick by brick in a massive rescue project by UNESCO. The temple was moved from Philae island due to the frequent flooding as a result of the construction of the first Aswan Dam being built the temple was completely submerged in the waters of Lake Nasser by 1906. It was not until the 1970’s that rescue attempts began, as they had to wait for the construction of the High Dam to be completed before they could commence their rescue mission. Also a suitable site had to be found to move the entire complex to. So until the dam was completed they could not begin until they were sure the new site had stabile water levels. The entire site was moved to Agilkia island.
Agilkia island, also known as Egilica was completely remodelling to mimic the shape of the original island.
Not everything was removed from the island and moved to the new site. The ruins of the Temple of Augustus, a Romany city gate, two Coptic churches and a Coptic monastery were left on the submerged island. Perhaps at some time in the future, these remains from the past will also be recovered from their watery graves.
They began this enormous project by building a dam around the temple to drain he waters. Then the temple stones were numbered and put back together like a giant gig saw puzzle. The enormous undertaking took just over 9 years to complete. Work commenced on this huge project in 1972 and was completed in 1980, when it was opened to the public.
The temple of Isis covers an enormous quarter of the island, containing pylons (gateways) and beautiful decorations.
The building in this complex was constructed by Napktnebef Kheperkare (Nactanebo I) around 370 BC, who built the first temple to Isis. Later, during the reign of King Ptolemy II (285-246BC), the great temple of Isis was constructed and was continued and added to by the succeeding Ptolemaic kings.
Philae temple was one of the last remaining places of ancient Egyptian worship to continue to attract worshippers. Surviving two more centuries after the Romans had converted to Christianity. Many ancient peoples continued to visit the island after this time to pray to Isis, including Greek and Roman pilgrims, as well as Nubian priests who made offerings to the goddess.