.

Kom Ombo All that is left of the great entrance pylon is the right hand part, where the Roman emperor Domitian can be seen with various gods rendering homage to the triad of Sobek, Hathor and Khonsu, together with a long text of 52 lines in hieroglyphics.

The court that follows must originally have been quite lovely, with its sixteen painted columns on three sides. Now only the base and the lower part are left, with, at the center, the remains of the altar on which the sacred bark was placed during processions. The reliefs on the columns show the emperor Tiberius, whose name is cut into the cartouches which accompany the figures, as he makes offering to the gods. The north part of the court is closed by the exterior wall of the pronaos, or first hypostyle hall.

The two entrances that correspond to the temples of Haroeris and of Sobek open in this wall. On either side of the doors, Ptolemy XII Neo Dionysos is shown purified by Horus, Thot and Haroeris (in the part on the left) and by Horus, Thot and Sobek on the right. The first hypostyle hall has three transversal rows of fine bundle columns each with a bill capital. Some of them are lotus-shaped, others papyrus, and one is even palm-shaped. The ceiling is Kom Ombodecorated with astronomical scenes, with the vulture, the symbol of Nekhbet and Uadjit. The column shafts are all carved with reliefs: above, under the capitals, with a band of hieroglyphs with the symbol of life (ankh) and below with the pharaoh rendering homage to the various gods.

The same offering scenes are repeated on the walls of the hall: the pharaohs depicted are all of the Ptolemaic period, and include Cleopatra VI. To be noted is the central row of columns which ideally marks the division of the two sanctuaries.

From here two distinctly separate entrances lead to the second hypostyle hall, or "hall of offering", smaller than the one before. Here too the central row of columns acts as a divider. Both the architecture and the decoration are the same as in the first hall, for the same scenes and subjects are repeated. The figures depicted this time are Ptolemy VIII, Evergetes II, his wife Cleopatra and Ptolemy XII, Neo Dionysos.

Kom Ombo After this hall come three vestibules placed transversally, the last of which leads to the sanctuary, or to be more precise, the two sanctuaries of Haroeris and Sobek. All three rooms were built by Ptolemy VI, Philometer and he is shown in the reliefs on the walls. In one of these on the internal wall of the last vestibule, the pharaoh is seen wearing his Maccedonian mantle, before the triad of Haroeris, Sobek and Khonsu. Unfortunately not much is left of the sanctuaries dedicated to the two divinities: unlike the rest of the temple in which the right and left hand parts were fused together, the sanctuaries were clearly separated by an intermediate wall. An idea of how rich the decoration must have been can still be gathered from a fragment in the sanctuary of Haroeris. The long dedicatory inscription with the name of Cleopatra on the left door is still intact. A double corridor surrounds the entire temple: seven small rooms open off the interior corridor behind the shrines. A staircase leads from the center room to the terrace above, with a breath-taking view over the entire temple. These chapels were also decorated, even though the reliefs often remained unfinished. Luckily the relief on the internal facade of the second wall has survived. It depicts a whole series of surgeon's instruments; confirming once again the high degree of skill achieved in the field of medicine.

Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo The "Birth House" or mammisi and Hathor chapel also belonged to the temple complex of Kom Ombo. The Hathor Chapel is in better state. It is situated to the right of the temple and was built by Domitian in honor of Hathor whom the Greek identified with Aphrodite. Various crocodile sarcophagi and mummies, from the excavations of a neighboring necropolis, can now be seen in this chapel, which was donated by a wealthy Roman matron.

The pervasive presence of Nile, where the feluccas silently glide over the water, and of the deep green fields which accentuate the blue of the sky, accompany your visit to Kom Ombo.

You can see by the temple plan (below) the two gateways. The right side is dedicated to Sobek, the left to Horus. Each of these two deities had their own special ceremonies and festivals.
While the stone differs from that of all the other temples perhaps because it was covered with sand for so long, the outstanding feature of the Kom Ombo Temple is the unusual, even unique, ground plan, the result of the unification of two adjacent temples, each dedicated to a distinct divinity: the crocodile-headed Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, and Haroeris or the ancient falcon-headed Horus, the solar war god.

This was why the temple was called both "House of the Crocodile" and "Castle of the Falcon". An imaginary line divides the temple longitudinally into two parts, each with its entrance, hypostyle halls, chapels, etc. The right part of the temple was consecrated to Sobek, the left to Haroeris, whose winged disk that protects from all evils is depicted over all the entrance portals. This temple, too, was the work of the Ptolemies who built it on the site of a much older and smaller sanctuary of which little remains.

The temple at Kom Ombo is about 30 miles (48 km) north of Aswan and was built during the Graeco-Roman period (332 BC AD 395). There was an earlier structure from the 18th dynasty but little remains.

SobekThe temple is unique because it is in fact a double temple, dedicated to Sobek the crocodile god, and Horus the falcon-headed god. The layout combines two temples in one with each side having its own gateways and chapels.

Sobek is associated with the wicked god Seth, the enemy of Horus. In the Horus myth the allies of Seth made their escape by changing themselves into crocodiles.

Sobek’s chief sanctuary was at Kom Ombo, where there were once huge numbers of crocodiles. Until recent times the Egyptian Nile was infested with these ferocious animals, who would lay on the riverbank and devour animals and humans alike. So it is not surprising that the local inhabitants went in fear.

They believed that as a totem animal, and object of worship, it would not attack them. Captive crocodiles were kept within the temple and many mummified crocodiles have been found in cemeteries, some of which can be seen in the temple sanctuary today.

some photos

One of the main sites visited by almost every tour to Egypt is what is billed as Philae, but Philae is actually a nonexistent island now buried beneath Lake Nasser. The island was sometimes visible and sometimes not after the Old Aswan Dam was built, but was permanently submerged by the High Dam.

Philae is an approximate Greek rendering of the local name "Pilak" known from hieroglyphic texts and which may be Nubian in origin. The ancient Egyptians saw in their name for Philae an etymology with the meaning "island of the time [of Ra]", i.e. creation, but the island’s history is later than that.

What we refer to today as Philae is the main temple complex relocated from that island, after the High Dam was built, to the island of Agilika. It was the center of the cult of the goddess Isis and her connection with Osiris, Horus, and the Kingship, during the Ptolemaic period of A Painting of Philae while Dry and Prior to its MoveEgyptian History.

Today, there are two dams at Aswan but of course, in ancient times, there were none. Prior to the dams, Philae Island occupied a position at the beginning or southern end of the First Nile Cataract, where the river gathered speed, dropping sixteen feet in swirling eddies and turbulent falls of white water for a distance of three miles. Various pharaohs attempted to calm or at least provide better passage around these rapids. Pepi I built at least one canal, as did Merenre, as early as the Old Kingdom, but later kings would also, such as Senusret III.

There were numerous islands in the region, Amelia Edwards says hundreds, including Biggeh, the temple's current location of Agilika, a group of small islands at Awad and El Hasa, and A Flooded Philae Prior to its Movebelow the Cataract (north), Siheil and Elephantine.

During early times, the priests of Philae claimed that the source of the Nile was bottomless and lay beneath the rocks of Biggeh, where half the river rose to flow north and half to flow south. Their rivals were the priests of Elephantine, who made the same claim. Indeed, the river around these islands was even then over one hundred feet deep in places, with confusing waters that could twist and turn in all directions.

This trek of water was hazardous in ancient times, a fact that escapes the modern visitor to Agilika Island. Amelia Edwards, the fearless Victorian Egyptologist saw it differently than we do today. She recounts:

"At Assuan, one bids good-bye to Egypt and enters Nubia through the gates of the Cataract - which is, in truth, no cataract, but a succession of rapids extending over two thirds of the distance between Elephantine and Philae. The Nile - diverted from its original course by some unrecorded catastrophe, the nature of which has given rise to much scientific conjecture - here spreads itself over a rocky basin bounded by sand-slopes on the one side, and by granite cliffs on the other. Studded with numberless islets, divided into numberless channels, foaming over sunken rocks, eddying among water-worn boulders, now shallow, now deep, now loitering, now hurrying, here sleeping in the ribbed hollow of a tiny sand-drift, there circling above the vortex of a hidden whirlpool, the river, whether looked upon from the deck of a dahabeeyah or the heights along the shore, is seen everywhere to be fighting its way through a labyrinth, the paths of which have never yet been mapped or sounded."

Of course, one can still get a glimpse of these cataracts north of the Old Aswan Dam. In ancient times, travelers made their devotions at Philae before continuing through the dangerous The Ground Plan of Old Philae Island before it was submergedterritory of the south to the "Land of Ghosts".

On the island of Sehel are more than 250 inscriptions from pilgrims and travelers coming to and going through the area, dating from the fourth dynasty down to the Ptolemaic period. Pepi I cut canals through the cataract to assist boat crews on their way to the calm water above Philae. Harkhuf passed through here on his way to Nubia during the reign of Pepi II. Also here on Sehel is the so-called Famine Stela, inscribed during Ptolemaic times but related to the reign of King Djoser in the 3rd Dynasty. It states that the king decreed that large tracts of land on both sides of the river stretching from Elephantine south should be given to Khnum’s temple, along with one-tenth of all produce and livestock raised as well as taxes on caravans and gold mining. There is an identical decree in the temple of Philae, carved at the base of the eastern tower of the second Great Pylon.

Such was the power of the gods, or at least the belief therein, that according to an inscription on the base of the eastern obelisk standing in front of the Great Pylon, during the reign of Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II, and Cleopatra III his second wife, the priests complained that they were being forced to refund the expenses of civil Another Old photo showing just how hight the water could get after the Old Aswan Dam was builtand military authorities incurred during their stay at Philae. The priests were not being left enough resources with which to continue sacrifices and libations for the welfare of the royal family. Euergetes II released the priests from further payments.

The Island of Philae lied about four miles south of modern Elephantine, just to the other side of the Old Aswan Dam. It only measured about 500 yards from north to south and 160 yards from east to west, which meant that it was almost entirely covered with temples and other monuments. These were protected from the Nile Flood during ancient times by high walls, quays and terraces. In fact, before the building of the first dam, the Island always stayed clear of the Installing a Coffer Dam around Old Philae so it could be pumped dry and the monuments moved.river, safe on its granite foundation against the turbulent rush of the flood with its abrasive silt.

Prior to the building of the Aswan Dam, the engineer in charge, Captain Henry Lyon, was asked to underpin the monuments of Philae so that they could withstand the submersion, which he did. He also excavated part of the site where he discovered the remains of some Christian churches.

After the Old Dam was built, it created a lake extending south some 140 miles back to the Sudanese border. In fact, the height of the dam was at first restricted because of the protests made by people interested in preserving Philae and the other temples and monuments from submersion. Winston Churchill cared little for this. He remarked that:

"This offering of 1,500 millions of cubic feet of water to Hathor by the Wise Men of the West is the most cruel, the most wicked and the most senseless sacrifice ever offered on the altar of a false religion. The State must struggle and the people starve, in order that the professors may exult and the tourists find some place to scratch their names."

So the water level was raised, and the temples and structures on Philae were flooded each year from December to about March, and had to be visited during this time by boat, passing through the Kiosk of Trajan and into the court of the Temple of Isis.

All did not turn out as badly as thought, however. The water ended up saving the temples from erosion by sand storms and helped to remove salt deposits which were damaging to the stonework. Regular inspections of the site showed that it suffered less damage than might have The Coffer Dam surrounding Philae Island after its completionbeen expected, save for the paintwork that was washed away by the new lake created by the Old English Dam.

Then, construction on the High Dam began and, as with a number of other monuments south of Aswan, the temple and other monuments had to either be moved or lost beneath the waters

In reality, Philae would not have been lost under the water of Lake Nasser itself, but rather the lake that was formed between the High Dam and the Old Dam. It was the only major monument located in this region. it would have been almost permanently submerged, but Old Philae Island after the removal of water behind the Coffer Damworse, this small lake is subject to a daily rise and fall of several yards, which would have inevitably eroded the temples completely.

This was accomplished during the 1970s, when the Philae monuments were moved to Agilkia northwest of Philae Island. Since waters already engulfed the monuments at Philae, a coffer dam had to be built around the island and then the water pumped out. This work began in 1972 and was finished in 1980 as a cooperative effort of UNESCO and the Egyptian Antiquity Organization. The new location was carefully landscaped to make it resemble Philae as much as possible. Some 40,000 blocks, weighing about 20,000 tons were moved to the new location.

home of the Temple dedicated to Goddess Isis and constructed on the beautiful island of Philae. Philae the modern day name is greek but the ancient Egyptians called the island P-aaleq which amongst other definitions has the dual meaning of "end" and "creation". It is believed that the various structures contained on Philae Island took 800 years to build (mostly during the roman period). In addition to the priests practicing daily rituals the island was the home of various stone masons, carpenters, and other crafts men continusly building and extending structures.



Photograph of Philae Temple
However the building of the Aswan Dam (see Nile page) almost wiped out the Island and its history. Fortunately an amazing rescue mission saved Philae. Flooded Philae was pumped dry by the Egyptian government and UNESCO through the use of a coffer dam. Philae temple itself was carefully dismantled, so that it could be relocated away from danger. Interestingly each block of the temple was labelled and its position carefully recorded, so that it could be reconstructed in exactly the same format. Even the site on which the main Philae temple rests, was landscaped so that it would look like the site on which the temple was originally standing. The rescue mission took 10 years to complete and involved the movement of blocks weighing 27000 tons in total.






The two colonnade leading to the entrance of the Temple of IsisPhilae is a magnificent example of modern day advancements enhancing historical monuments. One such event being the nightly Sound and Light show. During the show, buildings will be floodlit to produce silhouetes on the island's volcanic rocks and water.

Approaching from the south the first structure on the island belongs to Nectanebo. This vestibule originally had 14 columns of which only six remain. The double stairway leading to the vestibule has also been taken away by the Nile. After the vestibule there are two colonnades (the eastern colonnade and the western colonnade) which lead to the temple of Isis ( the main temple at Philea). The eastern colonnade was never finished.



colonnade within the east courtyard.First pylon of the temple of Isis is at the end of the two colonnades. This pylon was built by Ptolemy XII and depicts the king overcoming his enemies and worshipping the Goddess Isis. The first pylon leads into the east courtyard which contains a birth house (mamissi) and a roman chapel. The birth house contains releifs of Isis suckling her son Horus. The eastern court also contains a colonnade. This colonnade has ten pillars, and five rooms each with two storeys. It is believed that these rooms had various functions including performing as a library, laboratory for sacred oils or simply as meeting rooms where priest gathered.

At the end of the east court colonnade is the Taharqo altar. this altar is believed to be the oldest structure on the island. After the second Pylon the Hypostyle Hall is situated. The ceilings of the Hypostyle hall is illustrated with the vulture (the sign of upper and lower egypt) and the barques of day and night. Behind the Hypostyle hall there are three antechambers and a sanctuary. One of the antechambers contains a staircase which leads to a chapel dedicated to the God Osiris. This chapel contains releifs depicting the death and mourning of God Osiris. Interestingly the sanctuary still contains the pedestal on which the barque of Isis would have rested.





Outside the temple of Isis, the island of Philae houses various other structures including the Temple of the emperor Hadrian, Temple of Hathor and Trajan's kiosk (Pharaoh's bed). The temple of Hathor contains reliefs of the Bes the dwarf God (whom the ancient egyptians believed helped during childbirth and promoted fertility), musical scenes including an ape playing a musical instrument.



Trajan's KioskOn the left is a photograph of Trajan's kiosk which is contained within the temple's grounds. The kiosk is named after the emporer who rebuilt it. The statue of Isis would undertake an annual procession down the river Nile. At the end of the annual journey the sacred barge transporting the statue of Isis would land on the kiosk. The kiosk has 14 columns with screen walls. The screen walls display images of Trajan making offerings to Isis, Osiris and Horus. If you intend to see the sound and light show, it is worth noting that the Kiosk is also illuminated during the sound and light show as can be seen in the photograph bottom left.





Philae Island is famous for the legend of Isis and Osiris . For example the pylons within the temple of Isis contains depictions of the deities involved in this famous ancient Egyptian myth. Goddess Isis is the wife of Osiris and mother of God Horus. In the myth Osiris was murdered by his brother the wicked God Seth. Seth scattered Osiris pieces in various places. Isis tireleslly searched for Osiris's body parts and then using her Goddess powers to join the pieces together and bring Osiris back to life. Following Osiris' resurrection Isis and Osiris conceived Horus. Osiris then adopted the role of "God of the under world and judge of the dead. At the end of the tale Horus grows up to avenges his father by defeating Seth in combat.

Philae became the legendary burial place of Osiris.

Isis is associated with funeral rites but as she resurrected Osiris and is the mother of of Horus she is also the giver of life, a healer and protector of kings. Osiris ("Mother of God') as represented with a throne on her head.







western colonnadeAlternative photograph of Trajan's Kiosk