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Philae

Philae, an island at the First Cataract of the Nile (24°02'N,  32°59'E), on the southern frontier of Ancient Egypt, It is the site of  the most beautiful of all ancient Egyptian temples. In the 1970s,  the  architectural  structures  of  the  original  island  were  moved  to  their present religious  complex  devoted  to  the  cult  of Osiris. The  ritual  focus  was  Biga, the site of the abaton, one of the alleged tombs of Osiris; Philae  was  dedicated  preeminently  to  Isis,  his  sister-wife,  who  became  the  epitome of the divine wife and mother and thus the most popular of all  Egyptian  goddesses  in  the  Late  and  Greco-Roman periods.  Although  Isis was the major deity of the Philae, the site's location on the frontier  between Egypt and Nubia meant that the cults of Nubia also featured on  the island, where they were represented by significant cult buildings.

Access to the temple of Isis at Philae
Access to the temple of Isis at Philae
The  monuments  are  dominated  by  the  great  temple of Isis  and  its  associated structures, which are concentrated in the west and center of  the island on, or  adjacent to, a granite outcrop which  must have been  chosen originally as an embodiment of the primeval hill on which the  holy-of-holies  of  all  Egyptian  temples  was  claimed  to  rest.  There  is  some evidence at Philae of cult activity in honor of Amun in the time of  the  Nubian pharaoh  Taharqa  who  ruled  Egypt  between  689  and  664  BCE. These meager traces might well mean that the rise of this frontier  religious center owed something to the kings of the Nubian twenty-fifth  dynasty, to which Taharqa belonged; however, the earliest known cult  building in honor of Isis was a small shrine erected in the Saite period  by  Psamtik II.  This  was  followed  by  a  further  small  temple  on  the  granite  outcrop,  erected  by  Amasis.  Therefore,  it  now  seems  that  the  Saite  kings  introduced  the  cult  of  Isis  into  this  area  and  laid  the  foundations for her subsequent glorification on the island.

The next evidence of building dates to the thirtieth dynasty and takes  the  form  of  a  kiosk  of  Nektanebo  I,  which  is  now  situated  at  the  southwestern  end  of  the  main  temple,  and  a  gate  of  the  same  king  embedded  in  the  first  pylon  of  the  main  temple.  The  gateway  clearly  formed part of a thirtieth dynasty enclosure wall, but all these features  should  be  regarded  as  embellishments  to  the  preexisting  Saite  temple  enclosure, because there seems to be no trace of a substantial temple of  thirtieth dynasty date.

The building work in the main Isis temple area is overwhelmingly  Ptolemaic and forms part of the well-documented Ptolemaic policy of  promoting the Isis cult throughout the kingdom and beyond, although a  substantial  amount  of  the  decoration  was  added  in  the  Roman  period.  The  core  of  the  Isis  temple—everything  north  of  the  vestibule—was  built by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246) just behind the ancient shrine of Amasis, which was  then  demolished.  Its  decoration,  as  is  normal  at  this  and  similar  sites,  was added sporadically for a long time. This temple was surrounded by  a brick girdle wall which almost certainly followed the line of that of the  thirtieth dynasty and showed the undulating pattern in laving the brick  courses,  which  was  typical  of  such  late  structures.  This  feature  may  have been used for entirely practical reasons, but it has also been  claimed  that  it  imitates  the  waves  of  the  primeval  ocean  surrounding the primeval hill on which all temples were claimed to rest.

The temple shows an intriguing ground plan in that the main building  has two axes: the main cult area accessed by the second pylon is skewed  northeastward in relation to the court to the south. This feature probably  arose  from  the  interaction  of  several  factors:  the  preexistence  of  the  temple of Amasis; a determination to maintain the granite outcrop as the  center of cult activity; and the configuration of the island itself—that is,  any expansion of the central shrine to the south would have to be skewed  to fit the available space. The temple in its final form is a much expanded  structure that is entered by the first pylon (Ptolemy V-VI), which gives  access to a court flanked on the left by a mammisi, probably begun by  Ptolemy III but expanded and completed by Ptolemy VIII Euergetes (170-163, 145-116). This structure,  typical of late temples, was, for ritual purposes, the site of the birth of  Harpocrates, the son of Isis and Osiris. On the eastern side there stands a  colonnade  probably  built  by  Ptolemy VIII.  The  much  smaller  second  pylon, probably completed by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-164, 163-145), leads via a court and vestibule  to the sanctuary dedicated to Isis and her son Harpocrates. Throughout  the main temple area there are many examples of work added during the  Roman period: for example, the birth-house contains reliefs dating to the  reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, who feature alongside Antoninus in the  inner part of the temple; the temple is accessed from the west via a gate  associated  with  the  emperors  HadrianMarcus  Aurelius,  and  Lucius  Verus; and the enclosure also contained, to the north, a Claudian temple  dedicated to Harendotes, the son of Osiris as champion and protector of  his  father.  In  the  mid-sixth  century  CE  the  island  of  Isis  was  Christianized, and a number of churches were dedicated there, including  one to the Virgin Mary and one to Saint Stephen, the former being the  standard Christian substitute for Isis and the second a highly appropriate  replacement for Harendotes. This cultic change brought with it the usual  rash of mutilations to the pagan monuments.

The  buildings  of  the  Isis  enclosure  are  supplemented  by  numerous  subsidiary structures. To the south lies the long Outer Court, which now  forms the main point of access to the temple enclosure. At its southern  entrance stands the kiosk of Nektanebo I, removed there no later than the  reign of Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysius (80-58, 55-51) and flanked by colonnades of Roman date on the  western  and  eastern  sides.  In  addition,  the  eastern  colonnade  embodies  the remains of a temple of the Nubian god Arensnuphis (Ptolemaic with  some Roman decoration), a well-preserved shrine of Im-hotep (Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205-180)), and a further cult-place often ascribed on quite inadequate evidence  to the Nubian deity Man-dulis.

Pavillon of Trajan in Philae
Pavillon of Trajan in Philae
There  are  numerous  other  buildings  to  the  north,  east,  and  south  which  are  more  loosely  connected  with  the  enclosure.  At  the  water's  edge  on  the  northeastern  section  of  the  island  stands  a  spectacular  Roman-period  gate,  which  was  probably  a  triumphal  arch  of  Emperor  Diocletian. There are also a temple dedicated to the cult of Rome and  Augustus and two Coptic churches, as well as the remains of a Coptic  monastery.  To  the  east  of  the  great  enclosure  wall  lies a temple of Hathor (Ptolemy VI/VIII and early Roman), a deity with close affinities  with Isis who was associated, in particular, with the neighboring island  of  Biga.  Finally,  to  the  south  of  Hathor's  temple  and  overlooking  the  Nile stands a beautiful but unfinished kiosk often ascribed to Trajan; it  certainly received such decoration as it has in his reign, but the building  itself may well be earlier.  In addition to these major structures, the original island of Philae also  contained  mud-brick  settlement  remains  on  the  northern  part  of  the  island and to the east and southeast. These areas would originally have  housed the staff that served the temple, but the remains that were extant  until  the  floodwaters  destroyed  them  are  described  in  the  literature  as  Roman and Christian.

It is difficult to overrate the importance of the religious complex at  Philae. It provides us with a major late cult center which is exceptionally  well-preserved.  Beginning  in  the  Saite  period  and  continuing  into  the  thirtieth  dynasty,  it  underwent  a  spectacular  flowering  in  the  Greco-Roman period,  and,  because  of  the  circumstances  of  its  dismantling  and  removal,  there  is  possible  a  unique  insight  into  its  architectural  evolution  until  and  including  its  conversion  to  a  Christian  center.  In  addition, the voluminous texts and iconography yield much information  on the last centuries of pharaonic religious thought and practice. In fact,  Philae  was  the  last  bastion  of  ancient  Egyptian  culture,  and  it  is  no  coincidence that the latest datable hieroglyphic inscription (24 August  394 CE) comes from Philae.

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