SJEDS Travels to Egypt

Getting caught up in the shopping on our boat, the sight of the Temple of Isis on Philae caught us by surprise.

The Temple of Isis, like the Ramses II statues of Abu Simbel, had been saved from destruction by being moved. With the construction of the old Aswan Dam, the Temple of Isis was underwater for six months out of the year. Travelers would move in and around partially submerged columns in row boats, and peer through the green haze of the water to the eerie ruins below. The building of the High Aswan Dam made moving the temple necessary, as the temple was destined to being submerged year round and the ancient sight would have been lost forever. The moving of the temple took eight years and it was moved from Philae Island to nearby Agilkia Island. The old site is very close and can be easily seen from the new location.

Our guide explained that all temples have the same basic architecture. He took a rock and scratched out a diagram on the stone floor of the temple. At first we were shocked that no one stopped him from doing this. It seemed a defacement of national treasure. The floor showed evidence that this was common practice, with numerous scratched and chalk drawn diagrams.

When we spotted the familiar pink note in the corner, we knew immediately that Jose and Omar had been here before us.

The note said, that he was doing great with Omar’s family. They will send us an e-mail as soon , so he can to let us know, where to meet him next. We could not believe that we missed him again!

Temples are created on a grid that mimic the shape of a pyramid, which the ancients believed helped them ascend to heaven to the gods. There are five main areas with the width of each one narrowing, so if looking down from the sky the shape would be triangular. Temples vary in location, which god they are dedicated to, and building materials, but they all possess the following elements. The entrance begins with the temple gates and there are always two towers on either side of the entrance. These towers are the widest and highest of the temple. The next opening goes in to the open courtyard. Continuing through takes you to the hypostyle hall, consisting of outer and inner halls adjoined. Next is the offering chamber, where offerings of fruits, animals, and grains were brought. These items were stored in rooms built off of the offering chamber. The final destination was the inner sanctuary and only few were allowed here, usually just the priests. Temple gates always have two towers and are the widest and highest of the temple. The height of each part decreases leading to the sanctuary, additionally each area is shorter in height an architectural design to imitate the shape of a pyramid. The hypostyle hall held quite a surprise. Early Christians transformed the hypostyle hall into a chapel, complete with an altar, and a hewn-out recess to hold the bread and wine. When pagan worship ceased and Christian worship began new churches were not erected, rather old temples were changed. When this happened usually quite a bit of defacement occurred as the early Christians attempted to eradicate many of the carvings of the pagan gods from the premises.

It was back to the boat for lunch. Next stop Kom Ombo.

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