Known as the centre of the cult of Isis, Philae has been a popular tourist destination for centuries. Today, however, the actual island of Philae is completely submerged under the waters of Lake Nasser, but the monuments survived.
When the British built the old Aswan Dam on the Nile River at the turn of the 19th century, the temples on Philae were flooded by the high waters of the reservoir for almost half of each year. Tourists wanting to catch glimpses of the monuments during these months would row out to the temple tops and colonnades half-submerged under water. The colors of the reliefs on the temples’ walls and ceilings were washed away during this period.
By the time the High Dam was built in the 1960s, the monuments needed to be transferred to a new location or be lost under the waters forever. An international rescue operation was launched by UNESCO that involved the dismantling of the monuments on Philae, comprising almost 50,000 blocks, and reassembling the temple complex on the nearby island of Agilkia, arranging it as close as possible to the original layout. The project took four years to complete and remains today.
The main temple at Philae was dedicated to Isis (goddess of motherhood and fertility), but her husband Osiris (lord of the underworld) and her son Horus (god of the sky) were also worshiped there.
While the worship of Isis at Philae dates back to the 7th century BCE, the earliest preserved structure is the Hall of Nectanebo, which dates back to the 4th century BCE. Most of the remaining monuments were erected during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadephus and extended over the 500 years leading up to the reign of Diocletian (284-305CE).
When the closure of all temples had been ordered by Roman Emperor Theodosius in AD384, making Christianity the official state religion, one remained—the temple of Isis at Philae. Powerful enough to challenge early Christianity for religious supremacy, Philae remained the centre for a cult of Isis until the 6th century, when Emperor Justinian closed it down once and for all.
Early Christians built churches, defaced the pagan reliefs, and transformed the main temple’s hypostyle hall into a chapel. Following in the Christians footsteps, early Muslims vandalised Christian inscriptions.
