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Philae

Holger Uwe Schmitt · File:1977 bis 1980 wurde die Tempel auf der Insel Philae auf die höher gelegene Insel Agilka versetzt. 02.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1977_bis_1980_wurde_die_Tempel_auf_der_Insel_Philae_auf_die_h%C3%B6her_gelegene_Insel_Agilka_versetzt._02.jpg

Attraction · Aswan

Philae

The temple of Isis, taken apart block by block and rebuilt on a different island when the dam raised the water over the one it had stood on for two thousand years.

Time needed1.5 – 2 hours
Best timeEarly morning
WhereAgilkia Island, by boat
Builtc. 380 BC – 300 AD
AccessMotorboat only
Relocated1972 – 1980
About

Philae

Philae was the great southern sanctuary of Isis, and it was still functioning as one long after the rest of Egypt had become Christian — the last dated hieroglyphic inscription anywhere was cut here, and the temple was only closed by imperial order in the sixth century AD. Then, in the twentieth, the water came. The first Aswan dam left the island submerged for most of each year and visitors rowed over the drowned colonnades looking down at them; the High Dam would have put it under permanently. So between 1972 and 1980 the temples were surveyed, dismantled into some forty thousand blocks, and rebuilt on Agilkia, a neighbouring island reshaped to match the original. The reconstruction is exact enough that the join lines are hard to find. It is still reached only by boat, which is half of why the visit is what it is.

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What to See

What to see at Philae

A compact island you can walk in twenty minutes and should spend two hours on.

The approach

  • The crossing itself — ten minutes in an open motorboat, with the pylon rising straight out of the water as you come round the island.
  • The Kiosk of Nectanebo at the southern tip, the oldest surviving part of the complex, which is what you land beside.
  • The outer court, with its two unmatched colonnades — the western one finished, the eastern one abandoned mid-carving, which shows exactly how the work was done.

The temple of Isis

  • The first pylon, with its huge reliefs of Ptolemaic kings smiting enemies in a style that had by then been repeated for two thousand years.
  • The mammisi, or birth house, celebrating the birth of Horus — the building type that made the goddess’s cult legible to ordinary worshippers.
  • The sanctuary, with Christian crosses cut into the walls by the congregation that used it afterwards, alongside the Egyptian relief they were cut into.

The rest of the island

  • Trajan’s Kiosk on the eastern shore — fourteen columns, an unfinished roof, and the single most photographed structure in Aswan.
  • The temple of Hathor with its reliefs of musicians and dancing dwarf-gods, which is unusually cheerful for an Egyptian temple.
  • The water level marks and the reassembly numbers still faintly visible on some blocks, which are the record of the move.
Getting There

Getting there

A short drive south of Aswan to the landing, then a motorboat. There is no other way in.

From Aswan

  • Twenty to thirty minutes by road from the corniche to the Marina landing between the Old Dam and the High Dam.
  • Boats leave from the landing continuously; the crossing is about ten minutes each way and the boat waits for you.
  • The boat fare is separate from the site ticket and is agreed at the landing. Your travel designer usually arranges both together.

Combining it

  • Philae, the Unfinished Obelisk and the High Dam are the standard Aswan morning and fit together comfortably in one.
  • Doing Philae first is right — it is the one that suffers most from crowds and heat later.
  • Cruise itineraries usually schedule it on the afternoon of arrival, which is the busiest and hottest slot of the day for it.

On the island

  • It is small — a twenty-minute walk end to end — and entirely flat except for the pylon steps.
  • There is a little shade in the colonnades and none in the open court.
  • A sound-and-light programme runs in the evening where it is operating, which means a second boat crossing after dark.
Best Time

When to visit

Early, for the same reason as everywhere else in Aswan, plus one that is specific to an island.

Time of day

  • First thing, when the light is coming across the water and the boats have not started to stack up at the landing.
  • Late afternoon is the second-best light and the busiest hour, because that is when the cruise groups arrive.
  • The evening sound-and-light is a separate experience and a genuinely good one on a still night.

Time of year

  • October to April is comfortable throughout and the water keeps the island a degree or two cooler than the town.
  • May to September is very hot; the crossing is the pleasant part and the open court is not.
  • The site is never closed by weather — this is a place with effectively no rain.

How long

  • An hour and a half to two hours on the island, plus about half an hour of boat and transfer at each end.
  • An hour is enough to see the temple of Isis and Trajan’s Kiosk and nothing else.
  • Photographers should build in the extra half hour for the approach and the departure, which are the two best angles.
Visitor Intelligence

Visitor intelligence

A straightforward visit with one thing worth understanding before you go.

The relocation

  • What you are standing on is not the original island. Agilkia was reshaped to receive the temples and the buildings were re-erected in their original relationship to one another.
  • The original island, Philae proper, is still there under the water between the two dams and is pointed out from the boat.
  • Ask a guide to show you the block numbering, which survives faintly in a few places and is the physical evidence of the move.

Boats

  • Fares are agreed before you get in, not after you get out. Confirm whether the boat is waiting for you or leaving with the next group.
  • The boats are open and the crossing is short. There is no shade on them, which matters more on the way back at noon.
  • Life jackets are not always offered. Ask if you want one, particularly with children.

Photography

  • The frame everyone wants is the first pylon from the boat on the approach, and it only exists for about thirty seconds.
  • Trajan’s Kiosk from the water on the eastern side is the other one.
  • Interiors are dim; no flash, and the usual restrictions on tripods apply.

Access and families

  • The island is flat and the paths are firm, so once you are off the boat it is one of the more manageable sites in Egypt.
  • Getting in and out of the boat is the limiting step for anyone unsteady — it is a step down onto a moving deck.
  • Children generally take to Philae because arriving by boat makes it an expedition rather than a visit.
Nearby

Nearby

Everything in the standard Aswan morning is within twenty minutes of the landing.

The Unfinished Obelisk
In the granite quarry on the town’s southern edge — the other half of the Aswan morning.
Abu Simbel
Two hundred and eighty kilometres south, by road before dawn or by a short flight.
Aswan
The town — corniche, souq, Nubian Museum and the feluccas.
The High Dam
A few minutes further south, and the reason Philae is on a different island. No page of its own.
Good to Know

Frequently asked

Because it would otherwise have been permanently underwater. The first Aswan dam, completed in 1902 and twice raised, already left the island submerged for most of each year — visitors rowed over the tops of the colonnades. The High Dam would have drowned it for good. Between 1972 and 1980, in a UNESCO campaign, the temples were surveyed, dismantled into roughly forty thousand blocks and re-erected on Agilkia, a neighbouring island landscaped to match the original.
By motorboat, and only by motorboat. You drive twenty to thirty minutes south of Aswan to the landing between the Old Dam and the High Dam, and cross in about ten minutes in an open boat. The boat fare is separate from the site ticket and is agreed at the landing; boats run continuously and yours generally waits for you. The crossing is a genuine part of the experience rather than a formality.
An hour and a half to two hours on the island, plus roughly half an hour at each end for the drive and the boat. An hour covers the temple of Isis and Trajan’s Kiosk and leaves out the Hathor temple, the birth house and the Christian alterations to the sanctuary, which are among the more interesting things there.
They were cut by the Christian congregation that took the sanctuary over after the temple was closed by imperial order in the sixth century AD. Philae was one of the last places in Egypt where the old religion was actively practised — the final dated hieroglyphic inscription anywhere was carved here — so the crosses sit directly on top of Egyptian relief that was still in use within living memory of the people who cut them. It is an unusually visible seam between two religions.
On a still evening it is one of the better ones in Egypt, partly because it involves a second boat crossing in the dark and partly because the island is small enough for the lighting to work. It runs in several languages on a rotation and it does not run every night, so it needs confirming for your dates. It is an addition to a daytime visit rather than a substitute for one.
Once you are on it, yes — the island is flat, the paths are firm and the only steps of consequence are up the pylon. The limiting step is the boat: getting on and off means a step down onto a moving deck, usually with a hand from the boatman. Anyone who can manage that will find the rest straightforward, which is not something that can be said of most Egyptian sites.
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