philae

Philae (or Pilak or P'aaleq href="/encyclopedia/Egyptian-language" title="Egyptian language">Egyptian: remote place or the end or the angle island; href="/encyclopedia/Arabic-language" title="Arabic language">Arabic: Anas el Wagud) is an island in the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. The complex is now located on the nearby island of Agilkai.

Construction

Features

History

Pre-1800s

1800s

The island of Philae attracted much attention in the 19th century. In the 1820s, Joseph Bonomi the Younger, a British Egyptologist and museum curator visited the island. So did Amelia Edwards, a British novelist in 1873-4.

The approach by water is quite the most beautiful. Seen from the level of a small boat, the island, with its palms, its colonnades, its pylons, seems to rise out of the river like a mirage. Piled rocks frame it on either side, and the purple mountains close up the distance. As the boat glides nearer between glistening boulders, those sculptured towers rise higher and even higher against the sky. They show no sign of ruin or age. All looks solid, stately, perfect. One forgets for the moment that anything is changed. If a sound of antique chanting were to be borne along the quiet air - if a procession of white-robed priests bearing aloft the veiled ark of the God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and pylons - we should not think it strange.

These visits were only a sampling of the great interest that Victorian-era Britain had for Egypt. Soon, tourism to places such as Philae were common. Philae became well-known for its son et lumire (sound-and-light show), which told visitors of the isle's history.

1900s

Aswan Low Dam

In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British. This threatened many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae, with being submerged. The dam was heightened twice, from 1907-12 and from 1929-34, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the complex was not underwater only when the dam's sluices were open, from July to October. It was postulated that the temples be relocated, piece by piece, to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine. However, the temples' foundations and other architectural supporting structures were strengthened instead. Although the buildings were physically secure, the island's attractive vegetation and the colors of the temples' reliefs were washed away. Also, the bricks of the Philae temples soon became encrusted with silt and other debris carried by the Nile.

Rescue project

By 1960, UNESCO had decided to move many of the endangered sites along to Nile to safer ground. Philae's temple complex was moved, piece by piece, to Agilkai, 550 meters away, where it was reassembled and remains today. That project lasted from 1977 to 1980.