Temples of Philae near Aswan in Egypt Part II: The Approach to the Temple of Isis

The Temple of Philae in Egypt Part II: The Approach to the Temple of Isis By Jimmy Dunn

Though the monuments of Philae Island are now located on the nearby reworked Island of Agilika, and Philae is now buried beneath the waters of the lake formed between the Old Aswan Dam and the High Dam, Philae and the neighboring island of Biggeh to the west, in ancient times, formed an integrated religious comple de!oted to the cult of Osiris" The ritual focus was Biggeh, the site of the abaton, one of the alleged tombs of Osiris" At Philae, regular !isits were paid e!ery tenth day by Isis to the island of Bigeh and the tomb of Osiris" There are many legends connected to Philae, but the most well known one tells the story of how Isis found the heart of Osiris here after his murder by his brother #eth" $ach e!ening there is a #ound and %ight #how which recounts the legends against the magnificent backdrop of the floodlit monuments & a truly magical e perience"

Tourist boats on their way to visit the Temples of Philae in Egypt Philae was dedicated preeminently to Isis, sister&wife to Osiris, and patroness of the Ptolemaic rule" Although Isis was the ma'or deity honored therein, the location of the island on the frontier between $gypt and (ubia meant that cults of (ubia were also featured on the island, represented by significant cult buildings"

There was some e!idence at the actual island of Philae of cult acti!ity in honor of Amun, in the time of )ing Tahar*a, who ruled $gypt between +,- and ++. B/ in the 01th dynasty, and who probably built an altar of granite to Amun" Perhaps the )ushites, when in!ading $gypt, established a stronghold on Philae" Traces of mudbrick houses in trenches between the stone foundations of the later temples and the early nilometer west of the mammisi may date to this period"

The monuments on the island are dominated by the great temple of Isis and its associated structures, which are concentrated in the west and center of the island, on, or ad'acent to, a granite outcrop which must ha!e been originally chosen as an embodiment of the prime!al hill on which the first temple was said to ha!e rested" This hill was reproduced on the new location of the monuments at Agilika" The Tahar*a altar to Amun is the earliest e!idence of structures on the island" The known history of Philae does not go back farther than that, and it was not until the Ptolemaic and 2oman Periods that Philae rose to importance" The priests belie!ed their island had a far longer history, and as stated abo!e, an inscription at the frontier on the island of #ehel states that as early as the 3rd Dynasty, D'oserga!e them the country from the 4irst /ataract to the island of Derar" 5Dodekaschoinoi6 During Ptolemaic times they held the gold mines of 7adi Alaki within their administrati!e sphere"

But the earliest known cult building in honor of Isis, known to the $gyptians as Aset, was a small shrine erected in the #aite period by Psamtik II" This was followed by a further small temple on the granite outcrop, erected by Amasis" #o it now seems that the #aite kings introduced the cult of Isis into this area and laid the foundations for her subse*uent glorification on the island"

The ne t e!idence of building, and the earliest sur!i!ing monument of Philae, dates to the 38th Dynasty" Beginning at the ancient *uay where boats now land at the southwestern corner of the great temple, the first structure is the kiosk of (ectanebo I, though one may first notice the ob!ious seating for the sound and light show" The kiosk or !estibule of (ectanebo is a hall with screen walls linked by graceful columns" Of its original fourteen Hathor pillars, only si remain" The screens between the columns are some si feet high, crowned with conca!e cornices and rows of uraeus&serpents" The screens are car!ed with reliefs showing (ectanebo sacrificing to the gods"

4rom (ectanebo9s monument north, there are two colonnades, one on the east side and another on the west of an outer courtyard that leads to the first temple pylon" The western half of the colonnade is the more complete, and is pierced with windows originally looking toward the island of Biggeh" A nilometer descends the cliff from here" The colonnade is about one hundred yards long and contains thirty&one of the original thirty&two columns" The column capitals tops are floral, and remarkable in their !ariety with no two being alike" :ost of the columns show car!ings of Tiberius offering gifts to the gods" The ceiling, which is mostly

destroyed, is decorated with stars and and flying !ultures, while the rear wall has two rows of bas&reliefs of Tiberius and Agustus offering to the gods" The eastern colonnade was ne!er completed" On the south it abuts the temple of Arsenuphis, or Iry&hemes&nufer 'ust to the north of the !estibule of (ectanebo" Arensnuphis was an obscure (ubian lion&god !enerated as the companion of Isis" The temple was built by Ptolemy I; Philopator and e tended by Ptolemy ; $piphanes" Here, the reliefs depict Ptolemy ; before Isis and other gods, and also Ptolemy I; before Isis, Horus and <nnefer" The shrine was enclosed by walls that are ruined in some places but which ha!e representations of Tiberius worshipping Osiris, Isis, Harsieses 5Horus the $lder6, (ephthys, )hnum, #atis, Anukis, Arsenuphis and Tefnut" The eastern colonnade is partly roofed and has se!enteen columns, only si of which ha!e their capitals completed" Behind 5to the north6 of the Temple of Arsenuphis and to the east of the eastern colonnade is the ruined chapel of :andulis, another (ubian deity" At the northern end of the colonnade is the Temple of Imhotep" In it, Ptolemy ; $piphanes is shown before the deified Imhotep"

=ust beyond the temple of Imhotep and the first >reat Pylon of the Temple of Isis is the >ate of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, with depictions of the Ptolemaic Pharaoh being led forward by Isis" =ust before the main gateway to the first pylon are two 2oman style lions car!ed from pink granite that ha!e been re&erected on this island from their fallen position on the old Island of Philae" Two obelisks once also stood here, erected by Ptolemy ;III $uergetes II and his second wife, /leopatra III 5who by the way is not the more famous /leopatra ;II6" On the base of the eastern obelisk was the inscription complaining to the royal that the priests of Isis at Philae were being forced to refund the e penses of ci!il and military authorities incurred during their stay on the island"

These obelisks made of pink granite are not lost to us, but may now be found at )ingston %acy in Dorset in the <)" The eastern obelisk, which measures +"? meters tall and weighs si tons, was found on its side half&buried and its western counterpart was badly damaged and only about a third of it remained" They were taken by :r" 2alph Bankes for his garden" Interestingly, they were partly instrumental in the decipherment of hieroglyphics" The 2osetta #tone bears many inscriptionof Ptolemy in hieroglyphics, demotic script and >reek"4rom these inscriptions, it was possibleforthe4rench $gyptologist =ean&4rancois /hampollion to identifythe hieroglyphic form of thename,by usingthesamemethod,Bankes pointedoutthehieroglyphic form of the name, /leopatra, which was unknown before" But these obelisks, or at least the eastern one, has a more interesting history than this" Two of the most a!id collectors of anti*uities in $gypt around this time 5@,@-6 were the British /onsul, Henry #alt, and the /onsul&>eneral of 4rance, Bernardino Dro!etti" They both ga!e money to local chiefs throughout $gypt who then saw to it that other collectors were either warned off or not supplied with labor" It was #alt, of course, who actually obtained the obelisks for 2alph Bankes, and #alt was lucky enough to ha!e as his agent the giant Italian ad!enturer, >io!anni BelAoni, nicknamed the strongman of $gyptology" On hearing of this matter concerning the obelisks at Philae, Dro!etti claimed that they belonged to him, but grandly ceded the ownership to Bankes" BelAoni, who #alt tasked with their transport, thought that Dro!etti had found it impossible to find ways of transporting the firstobelisk 5the complete, eastern one6 through the cataract and had relin*uished his claim for this reason" >i!en the siAe of the obelisk, he may ha!e been right"

The obelisk was le!ered and pushed on rollers to a stout wooden pier for shipment, BBut, alas,B writes BeAoni, Bwhen the obelisk came gradually from the sloping bank and all its weight rested on it, the pier, with the obelisk and some of the men, took a slow mo!ement, and ma'estically descended into the ri!er"B (e!ertheless, BelAoni and his men hauled it out of the mud and got it loaded onto a boat for its 'ourney to /airo" Cet the story does not end there, for Dro!etti had, it seems, not gi!en up" Dro!etti9s men intercepted BelAoni on his way to Aswan and it was only after a long altercation which ended in gun&fire and the arri!al of Dro!etti himself that the monument was allowed to proceed on its way" It was shipped to $ngland on the Despatch in :ay, @,0@ and not erected in Bankes garden until @,0?" In the inter!al, Bankes returned to $gypt in @,00 to collect the broken western obelisk" This leads us up to the first pylon, beyond which is the temple of Isis proper"