PHILAE TEMPLE

• One of the main sites visited by almost every tour to Egypt is what is allocated as Philae.
• Philae Island occupied a position at the beginning or southern end of the First Nile Cataract, where the river gath ered speed, dropping sixteen feet in swirling eddies and turbulent falls of white water for a distance of three miles.
• Philae Temple was dismantled and reassembled (on Agilika Island about 550 meters from its original home on Philae Island) in the wake of the High Dam.
• The temple is dedicated to the goddess Isis, is in a beautiful setting which has been landscaped to match its origi nal site.
• Although Isis was the major deity honored therein, the location of the island on the frontier between Egypt and Nub ia meant that cults of Nubia were also featured on the island, represented by significant cult buildings.
• Supernatural experiences as floodlit constructions are silhouetted against the volcanic rocks and water surrounding them. So today, Philae is more fun than ever before!!!!!
• 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 Seth.
• Each evening there is a Sound and Light Show which recounts the legends against the magnificent backdro p of the floodlit monuments - a truly magical experience.
• Although antiquities on the island date between the 26th Dynasty and the Roman Period, most of the work is from that of the Roman.
• Construction on the island took place over 800 years duration, and it was one of the last strongholds of Ancient Egyptian Religion which continued to flourish here into the 6th Century.
• The island comprises of many ruins and temples, among which are the temples of Isis, Horus, Imhotep, Augusts, as well as gates, Kiosks and a Nile-meter.
• The colonnade of the temple of Imhotep 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 variety with no two being alike!!!!!
• In addition to these ruins, there are also two ancient Coptic churches, as well as the remains of a Coptic monastery. In addition to these ruins, there are also two ancient Coptic churches, as well as the remains of a Coptic monastery.
• The Temple of Isis was the last surviving outpost of the old Egyptian pagan religion. Some say that Christianity and the pagan religion, for a time, were practiced here side by side until the pagan priesthood was officially disbanded by Justinian in about 550 AD.