A visit to …… Philae Temple Island (Part 1)

Explained by … Nasr Salama

The island of Philae temples is one of the most important tourist attractions in Aswan, and there are no temples in Egypt built on an independent island in this way except for the temples of Philae

: The history of the temples
The history of the temples of Philae dates back to the third century BC, then different eras followed, such as the Greek, Roman and Byzantine eras, and each of these eras had its impact on the walls and columns of this diversity and mixing between the arts and decorations of ancient civilisations, and the temples contain many buildings dating back to the Ptolemaic era, one of the most prominent temples established by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, and this temple was dedicated to the goddess Isis, mother of Horus, known to the ancient Egyptians as the goddess of motherhood and the moon

: Reason for the name
The first thing a visitor to these temples inquires about is this strange name, which is sometimes confused with Elephantine Island with a big difference between them, and sometimes some consider it a plural name for the elephant animal, but it is completely far from these names, the name Philae in the ancient Egyptian language meant the end or the distant place because it was the end of Egypt, and Philae in the ancient Egyptian language meant the end or the distant place It was originally a Greek word meaning beloved, and it was called by this name in the era of the Greeks at a time when the Greek language prevailed at the time, and there is an Arabic name for it, Anas al-Wujood, because of its association with folklore stories, but the temple still retains its famous Greek name, Philae

: Saving the temples of Philae
Since the completion of the first Aswan Dam in 1902, Philae Island has been surrounded by Nile waters for most of the year, with its precious archaeological reserves including temples, palaces, columns and pharaonic gates, all of which embody Roman, Greek and Pharaonic architectural styles
Visiting Philae’s temples used to be done by using small boats to view the upper parts of the walls and column capitals because they sank below the flood waters
The construction of the High Dam has radically changed the situation, and the island will be partially submerged but year-round due to its location between the new dam and the old on
In addition, the daily withdrawal of water to drive the turbines that generate electricity meant that there would be constant ripples up to 3 metres above the water level, which in turn would quickly damage the stones, and without a solution, the island’s temples would disappear from the map
When Philae was raised as an urgent issue, the response from the Nubia Campaign was swift, reflecting the international community’s determination to save an area of such beauty and historical significance
The process of saving Philae’s temples began in 1972 when the island’s temples were surrounded by a fence of 3,000 slabs embedded in the bottom of the Nile to form a temporary dam to prevent water from entering the island and to draw water out of the island by pumps, which took two years to complete To surround the island with two rows of interlocking piles 12 metres long, and within this void a mixture of water and sand was poured from the waterfall quarries 5 kilometres away, and this mixture was connected across the lake through pipes, allowing the water to seep out leaving the sand to support the steel against the pressure of the lake, thus completing the lifeline around the island
After that, the work of recording and documentation began by drawing and photographing all the walls and columns of the temples, then came the role of dismantling the temple stones and recording a number on each stone for use when reassembling, the number of temple stones reached about 42,000 stone blocks that were moved to a temporary site in the waterfall named Talaynah after the Italian company that saved the temple. In this place, a huge team of workers cleaned and restored the archaeological stones in preparation for rebuilding them on another island called “Agilika” located about 500 metres north of the sunken island of Philae, which is characterised by its high level, and to increase safety, they transported tons of stones on it
The reconstruction journey then began by preparing a concrete floor on Ajelika Island, transporting and rebuilding the archaeological blocks from bottom to top and fixing all the walls and columns of the temples to the concrete floor by means of metal skewers to ensure the strength and solidity of the reconstruction, ending with the opening of the project in March 1981 in the presence of Jehan Sadat, wife of the the President of the Republic, and leaders from UNESCO 

Stay tuned for part two