Philae Temple | Aswan Egypt Day 4
After the Aswan High Dam visits, we took a motorboat ride to the Philae Temple. On the boat ride, several Nubian men showed off Nubian handcrafts for sale. We busied ourselves looking at the bracelets for sale. They were well-made, and scented slightly. They said it was made of sandalwood, but I doubt that was the truth. It was more probable that they sprayed some sandalwood scent on the bracelets. After handling though, the bracelets quickly lost the scent. But since they were well made, I selected five bracelets and set it aside. I would pay and collect after the visit to the Philae Temple.
Nubian Handicrafts for Sale
on Motorboat to Philae Temple
Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan. It was called in Hieroglyphic “Apo” which means Ivory. It was also known by the Greek “Elephantine”, most probably because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory.
The Ancient Egyptians built a beautiful and magnificent Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island. The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible.
Firstly, a cofferdam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. Each and every stone had to be numbered, and then replaced, in the same position, in the new location. It was a massive, and very complicated, project taking over 9 years to be accomplished.
The Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980!
Temple of Philae Pictures
Motorboats Docking Area to Temple of Philae
Check out the Bob Marley Flag!
on Motorboat to Philae Temple
Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan. It was called in Hieroglyphic “Apo” which means Ivory. It was also known by the Greek “Elephantine”, most probably because it was an important centre of trade, especially for ivory.
The Ancient Egyptians built a beautiful and magnificent Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island. The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible.
Firstly, a cofferdam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. Each and every stone had to be numbered, and then replaced, in the same position, in the new location. It was a massive, and very complicated, project taking over 9 years to be accomplished.
The Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980!
Check out the Bob Marley Flag!
Labels: Egypt, Egypt Day 4
posted by Simply Travels at
11:04 AM
1 Comments:
Nice pics. Philae is an island located in the River Nile.Philae is a small island and it is famous for copious and pleasing ruins, they attrct more tourist. You can see tomb of Osiris.Philae is a amazing place for its special effects of shade as well as lights. Best time to visit Philae is from October to March. For more details and video refer Philae only temple in egypt
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