Temple of Philae

Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan . It was called in Hieroglyphic "Apo" which means Ivory. It was also known by the Greek "Elephantine", most probably because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory.

The Ancient Egyptians built a beautiful and magnificent Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island.

The new island was calledEgilica (also calledAgilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible.

Firstly, a coffer dam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. Each and every stone had to be numbered, and then replaced, in the same position, in the new location. It was a massive, and very complicated, project taking over 9 years to be accomplished.

The Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980!

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The Temple of Isis

The Temple of Isis is one of the greatest Temples in Egypt and it occupies about a quarter of the island. It is the main Temple on the island, with its huge, complete, pylons and beautiful scenes.

The construction began during the reign of King Ptolemy II, and then other Ptolemaic Kings (Ptolemy's IV, V, VI, VII and XI) contributed by adding more parts to the main Temple.

The Temple is built in the same style as the Temples of the New Kingdom, as well as some other elements, which appeared in the Greco-Roman period, such as the Mamisi (the House of the divine birth of Horus), and a Nilometer.

The Temple of Isis consists of The 1st Pylon, which is a great traditional pylon with two towers, and an open forecourt, which leads to the 2nd pylon.

On the left side of this court is the Mamisi, which has scenes depicting the birth of the God Horus by his mother Isis.

The 2nd Pylon leads to a Hypostyle Hall with 10 columns, and then 3 vestibules leading to a sanctuary.

The oldest remains, of the Temple of Philae, date back to the reign of King Taharqa (25th Dynasty), who built the first chapel for the Goddess Isis. 

In addition to the main Temple of Isis there are other monuments here, such as The Kiosk of Trajan, the Chapel of Osiris, The Temple of Horus, The Temple of Hathor, The Gateway of Tiberius, the Gateway of Diocletian, and the Temple of Augustus. 

The Temples of the island were neglected, and some of them even destroyed, after the persecution of the Christians by the Roman Emperors. During the reign of the Emperor Justinian (527-565 A.D), the main Temple was converted to a church.

Click on Temple Thumbnail to enlarge:

Temple of Ramesseum

Temple of the Ramesseum was built by Ramses II the as a funerary Temple in 1304-1207 B.C, and it was dedicated to the God Ra. Most of the Temple is in a very bad condition nowadays, or in ruins. The entrance to the Temple once had two pylons that have now collapsed. In the first courtyard, of the Temple, there is only a colonnaded hall that has survived.

In front of the ruins of the first pylon, there once stood a colossal statue of Ramses that was more than 1000 Tons in weight and 18m high! You can still see the remains of it today.

Many other Kings have superimposed monuments in the Ramesseum such as Mernptah and Ramses III.

The Greeks identified this as the Temple of Memnonium (they associated the colossal statue in front of the Temple with their legendry hero, Memnon, the son of Aurora who's mother, Eos, was the Goddess of dawn. Also they sometimes called it "the tomb of Ozymandias", a name that might have be derived from the ancient Egypt word "User-Maat-Ra".

This huge Temple later inspired a poetic verse by Percy Bysshe Shelley: -

I met a traveller from an antique land
who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
the lone and level sands stretch far away.

Percy Bysshe Shelley 1792-1822

The Roman historian, Diodorus, was under the impression that the Temple was the work of the legendry King called Ozymandias, and his tomb was located in there. He even give detailed descriptions of the tomb of Ozymandias and described the inscription that was on its entrance, which says: -

" I am Ozymandias, King of Kings. If anyone would know how great I am and where I lie, let him surpass any of my works."

The Temple measures 600 feet by 220 feet. The eastern pylon of the Temple was the main entrance and was once decorated with scenes of the battle of Kadesh, but it is in ruins today! On the right wing of the pylon you will find inscriptions that represent the 118 cities that Ramses III had conquered during his military campaigns. You will also see scenes of prisoners taken to the King. On the left wing of the pylon there are scenes of the famous battle between Ramses II and the Hittites. After that you will proceed onto the first open courtyard, where you will see many damaged statues. Once there was a colossal statue of Ramses II, and at its feet, it read:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings: Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair"

In the great hypostyle hall there are 29 columns that are still standing, the ones in the middle are shorter than those on the sides to allow light into the Temple! Here, on the left side, you can see more scenes of the battle of Kadesh.
On the right of this hall, and outside the walls of the hypostyle hall, lies a much older Temple, built by Seti I and dedicated to the God Amon Ra. The Second courtyard is in a much better condition, than the first one, and you can see on both sides, two rows of Osiris columns, representing Ramses II. Further south there is another small hypostyle hall that once had 8 papyrus-bud columns. In here the hall of astronomy is located, where the first 12th month calendar is illustrated. This hall is decorated with scenes of offering, and scenes of the sacred boat of Amon Ra. On the western wall you will see Ramses II sitting under the tree of life, where the God Thoth and the Goddess Seshat are recording his name, in the leaves of the tree, for long life.

If you go further into the western side, there are the ruins of two vestibules that lead you to a library, linen room and the badly ruined sanctuary, which was dedicated to the God Amon Ra.

To the south of the Temple, Ramses II built a great mud break palace where he stayed during his visits to the site. To the south of this section, lies the small Temple of Mern-Ptah, the successor of Ramses II. In 1896, the great Egyptologist, William Flinders Petrie, did extensive excavations at this site.

Petrie found here a very important Stella, known as the "Israel Stella", which contained the first reference to the "Tribe of Israel". Because of this Stella, many archaeologists believe that Mern-Ptah is very likely to be the Pharaoh of the Exodus

Temple of Edfu

Edfu is located 60Km to the north of Aswan. It was the 2nd Nome of Upper Egypt and the centre of the cult of a triad of Gods, which consisted of Horus of Behdet, Hathor, and their son, Hor-Sama-Tawy. In the old Greek documents, Edfu was known as "Apollopolis Magna" because the Greeks identified Horus with their God Apollo.

Edfu was a flourishing city in Ancient Times. Today, the most important monument in the city of Edfu is the Temple of Horus, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful and preserved Temples in Egypt. The origins of the Temple probably date back to the Second Intermediate Period, but the actual Temple only dates back to Ptolemaic times. The work of construction began during the reign of Ptolemy III (about 237 BC) and was finished during the reign of Ptolemy IV. Some other additions were made by other Ptolemaic Kings, and Roman Emperor Augustus. The construction of this Temple and its additions, inscriptions, and relief's took about 180 years!

Edfu Temple consists of traditional elements of Egyptian Temples of the New Kingdom, together with a few Greek elements, such as the Mamisi, which is situated to the west of the main entrance of the Temple (Mamisi means "house of the divine birth"). It consists of an entrance, a court and chapel. The walls of the mamisi are decorated with scenes showing the story of the divine birth of Horus the child, in the presence of the Goddess Hathor, the God Khenoum and other deities who were concerned with pregnancy and birth.

The Temple has a Pylon that is considered the highest among surviving Temples in Egypt today. It is 37m high and is decorated with battle scenes, representing King Ptolemy VIII smiting his enemies before the God Horus.

Next there is an open courtyard that contains columns with floral capitals on three sides. This open court was open to the public and was known as the court of the offerings, being the place where people could give their offering to the statue of the God. 

The Hypostyle Hall is rectangular and 12 columns support its roof. On both sides of the entrance to this hall stands a statue of Horus of Behdet, in the shape of a falcon. This hall is also known as the outer Hypostyle Hall.

An entrance beyond the 1st Hypostyle Hall accesses the Inner Hypostyle Hall. 12 columns to the right support its roof, and on the left there are 2 rooms; one was used as a library that once contained a large number of manuscripts. The other was used as a storeroom or magazine for the utensils and the tools of the Temple.

There are 2 consecutive vestibules; the outer one called the "hall of the offerings", where the walls are decorated with various scenes representing the different deities and offering scenes of the different Ptolemaic Kings. The inner vestibule was called the "rest house of the Gods".

At the end of the Temple is the sanctuary, which includes a niche of grey granite where a statue of the God is supposed to be placed. In front of the dais is a pedestal for the resting of the divine boat. The sanctuary is surrounded, on the outside, by 12 rooms, where many religious scenes were depicted on their walls. Some of these rooms were used as storerooms, while the others were dedicated for different religious purposes.

One of the most remarkable elements of the Temple is the existence of a Nilometer, as well as a chapel, which was dedicated to the Goddess Nut.

On various walls of the Temple, there are many battle scenes, as well as the famous scene of the ritual of the Temple foundation.

The northern wall of the court shows the divine marriage of Hathor and Horus of Behdet, which was celebrated twice every year; once at the Dendera Temple and the second time at the Edfu Temple. The Journey of Hathor, from Dendera to Edfu and the vice versa, can also be seen on this wall.

Another scene, on the inside of the outer corridor of the western side of the Temple, depicts the legend of the conflict between Horus and Seth, the victory of Horus over his uncle, and his coronation to rule the world. 

*Click on the thumbnails to enlarge

Temple of Luxor

Luxor Temple, or The Temple of Luxor, is among the most beautiful Temples in Egypt. It was known in the New Kingdom period as Ipt-Rsyt, which means the southern shrine. This was to differentiate between this Temple and Karnak Temple, which was the northern house of Amon Ra.

Amenhotep III built Luxor Temple. The architect and overseer of the works of construction was the genius Amenhotep, son of Habu. The Temple run close and parallel to the river Nile from north to south. It was constructed on the site of a small Temple of Amon, built by kings of the 12th dynasty. At the time of Amenhotep III the Temple was only 190m in length and 55m in width. Basically, Luxor Temple was consecrated to Amon Ra in his fertility aspect.

Ramses II, with the help of his architect Pak-in Khonso, added the front part and completed the Temple. He also added the present large forecourt, and a Pylon at the (northern) front of the Temple. Kings Merenpetah, Seti I, Ramses III, Ramses IV and Ramses VI built many more small additions. Alexander the Great rebuilt the Sanctuary.
During the Christian era, the inner section was converted to a church. The Muslims built a Mosque in the 10th century, which is known as the Mosque of Abou El-Hagag.

King Nektanebo built the Sphinx Avenue in front of the Temple that leads to the entrance. In front of the Great Pylon of Ramses II, there once were 2 obelisks. Only one of them remains standing! The other was transported, in 1819, to La Place de le Concorde in Paris, as a gift to King Philip Louis of France by Mohamed Ali (who ruled Egypt 1805-1850 A.D), after he was given a French clock, which has never worked properly - even to this day!

There were 6 standing statues in front of the Pylon, only one of them, on the western side, is still in place.

Flanking the gate of the first pylon, which is 24m high, there are two seated colossi representing King Ramses II, seated on his throne, with all the royal features. Both towers of this pylon were once decorated with relief's depicting the Battle of Kadesh, fought between the armies of Egypt and the Hittites, in present day Syria. The 1st open court has double rows of 32 papyrus bud columns.

To the right side of the open court there is an old triple shrine made by Queen Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III, dedicated to the sacred boats of the "Triad of Thebes". To the left is the Mosque of Abou El-Hagag.

The open court of Ramses II leads to the Colonnade, which was built by Amenhotep III, and decorated by Tutankhamen and later, Horemheb; Seti I, Ramses II, and Seti II all recorded their names there. It consists of two pairs of large open papyrus columns, which are arranged to make a long processional avenue. The walls of this colonnade are decorated by scenes of the Opt Festival, special ceremonies for the visit of the "Triad of Karnak" to the Temple of Luxor. This feast lasted for about 24 days, including the return to the Karnak Temple.

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 The colonnade leads to the Court of Amenhotep III (52m in length and 46m in width). It has a double row of clustered round papyrus bud columns on three sides. The Court of Amenhotep III leads to the Hypostyle Hall, which consists

of 32 columns arranged in 4 columns and 8 columns each. To the left of the Hypostyle Hall stands a Roman altar, bearing Latin inscriptions, dedicated to Emperor Augustus. On the walls of the Hypostyle Hall, there are some reliefs representing Amenhotep III hunting and killing a gazelle in front of Amon Ra, and other scenes representing the King in front of various deities.

On the rear of The Hypostyle Hall, and on both sides of the central doorway,

There are 2 long chapels. The one to the east is dedicated to Mut and the One to the west dedicated to Khonso. The Hypostyle opens south to the 1st Antechamber, which originally had 8 columns, but they were removed when the antechamber was converted into a Christian Church. 

The Birth Room situated to the east, is a side room with 3 columns. Most of the scenes, depicting the divine birth of King Amen-hotep III, are in very poor condition.

After the Birth Room there is another 3 columned chamber, also with badly damaged relief's, and then the Sanctuary of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great, who removed the 4 original columns and built a chapel, open to the north and to the south, rebuilt this sanctuary, which once had a golden plated statue of Amon Ra. Fortunately he did not remove the relief's on the walls.

From the shrine of Alexander the Great, we enter a 2nd antechamber, which has 4 papyrus bud columns.

After passing the 2nd antechamber, there are 2 offering rooms, in poor condition, with their scenes also badly damaged.

The original sanctuary is a small chamber with 4 clustered papyrus columns. The walls of this room are decorated with scenes depicting Amenhotep III dancing before the God Amon Ra. The outside walls of the Temple, on the west side, are covered with scenes and inscriptions, again representing the battle of Kadesh. This was the work of Ramses II to commemorate his "victory" over the Hittites.