Philae

The Philae Temple does not seem to garner much fanfare. I could be wrong about its popularity as a tourist site, but the temple (in Aswan) is far more remarkable than anyone had related to me. It is on a small Nile island all on its own, and when we went to the site where the ferries depart from, we were the only people there (the ferry drivers seemed to having a good time, despite the lack of actual ferrying). We arrived at the dock on the Philae island, and disembarked, immediately encountering enormous pylons marking the entrance to the temple. 

This seems like a good time to talk about the incredible carvings in and around all of these Ancient Egyptian ruins. It is important to note that the Ancient Egyptians were not interested in decorating their temples with "art", per se. All of these carvings, which were once painted, were created for representational purposes only. However, their artistic value is tremendous. Using a mix of hieroglyphs and vivid images, they convey stories of pharaohs and gods alike that a modern day tourist could very easily understand. Furthermore, the temples are all grand in their own way, but their grandeur is not for grandeur's sake. Every wall, column, obelisk, and pylon has symbolic meaning, and where they are placed in the temples, as well as their orientation, is just as important. 

Philae is unique, because it is one of the few temples that was not built using exact geometric proportions, and its layout does not follow a straight axis, or use only right angles. A temple honoring the goddess Isis, and for some unknown reason geometrically unusual, it is a "later" Ancient Egyptian temple, began by Ptolemy II (a greek Pharaoh, who ruled a few generations after Alexander the Great), and completed by the Romans. Along with the Egyptian carvings and 19th century graffiti, you can see Christian carvings as well, including several crosses. The sprawling temple was clearly the project of several men spanning many generations. Off to one side is a music stand built by the Roman Emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98-117 AD. 

Like Abu Simbel, the Philae Temple was relocated after the Nile was dammed. It lies between the smaller British dam, which was built first, and the larger "high dam". For some years, it was halfway flooded, and tourists visited it by boat, floating in and around the higher portions of the temple. It is very visible on the walls and columns of the temple where the water level was. It was finally moved to an island about 550 meters from its original site, after they raised the water level for a third time between 1972 and 1980. The original site is now a few wooden pilings sticking out from the placid water. 

After some reflection, I think that the temple at Philae is my favorite of the Ancient Egyptian temples. Aswan is a beautiful city with plenty of sights, but do not make the mistake of somehow missing this gorgeous ruin.