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119-810: Until the International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia , the temple complex was located on Philae Island , near the expansive First Cataract of the Nile in Upper Egypt . These rapids and the surrounding area have been variously flooded since the initial construction of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902. The temple complex was dismantled and moved to nearby Agilkia Island as part of the UNESCO Nubia Campaign project, protecting this and other complexes before

238-463: A Greek sculptural style , with attributes taken from Egyptian and Greek tradition. Some of these images reflected her linkage with other goddesses in novel ways. Isis-Thermuthis, a combination of Isis and Renenutet who represented agricultural fertility, was depicted in this style as a woman with the lower body of a snake. Figurines of a woman wearing an elaborate headdress and exposing her genitals may represent Isis-Aphrodite. The tyet symbol,

357-400: A sistrum rattle and a headdress of cow horns enclosing a sun disk. Sometimes both headdresses were combined, so the throne glyph sat atop the sun disk. In the same era, she began to wear the insignia of a human queen, such as a vulture-shaped crown on her head and the royal uraeus , or rearing cobra, on her brow. In Ptolemaic and Roman times, statues and figurines of Isis often showed her in

476-427: A 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet ) of sand was tipped. Any water that seeped through was pumped away. Next the monuments were cleaned and measured, by using photogrammetry , a method that enables the exact reconstruction of the original size of the building blocks that were used by the ancients. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units from 2 to 25 tons, and then transported to

595-465: A cliff-top settlement, it was transformed into an island. The relocated sites can be grouped as follows: The list of relocated monuments is as follows: One scheme to save the Abu Simbel temples was based on an idea by William MacQuitty to build a clear freshwater dam around the temples, with the water inside kept at the same height as the Nile . There were to be underwater viewing chambers. In 1962

714-552: A cow—an origin myth explaining the cow-horn headdress that Isis wears. Isis's maternal aspect extended to other deities as well. The Coffin Texts from the Middle Kingdom ( c.  2055 –1650 BCE) say the Four sons of Horus , funerary deities who were thought to protect the internal organs of the deceased, were the offspring of Isis and the elder form of Horus. In the same era, Horus

833-510: A fine view of the Nile, from its smooth surface south of the islands to its plunge over the shelves of rock that form the First Cataract. Philae, Bigeh and another lesser island divided the river into four principal streams, and north of them it took a rapid turn to the west and then to the north, where the cataract begins. Bigeh, like Philae, was a holy island; its ruins and rocks are inscribed with

952-454: A gesture of mourning, or outstretched around Osiris or the deceased as a sign of their protective role. In these circumstances they were often depicted as kites or women with the wings of kites. This form may be inspired by a similarity between the kites' calls and the cries of wailing women, or by a metaphor likening the kite's search for carrion to the goddesses' search for their dead brother. Isis sometimes appeared in other animal forms: as

1071-703: A human woman wearing a throne-like hieroglyph on her head. During the New Kingdom ( c.  1550  – c.  1070 BCE ), as she took on traits that originally belonged to Hathor , the preeminent goddess of earlier times, Isis was portrayed wearing Hathor's headdress: a sun disk between the horns of a cow . In the first millennium BCE, Osiris and Isis became the most widely worshipped Egyptian deities, and Isis absorbed traits from many other goddesses. Rulers in Egypt and its southern neighbor Nubia built temples dedicated primarily to Isis, and her temple at Philae

1190-400: A large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates between which a 1 million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet ) of sand was tipped. Any water that seeped through was pumped away. Next the monuments were cleaned and measured, by using photogrammetry , a method that enables the exact reconstruction of the original size of the building blocks that were used by

1309-530: A looped shape similar to the ankh , came to be seen as Isis's emblem at least as early as the New Kingdom, though it existed long before. It was often made of red jasper and likened to Isis's blood. Used as a funerary amulet , it was said to confer her protection on the wearer. Despite her significance in the Osiris myth, Isis was originally a minor deity in the ideology surrounding the living king. She played only

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1428-515: A mother to the deceased, providing protection and nourishment. Thus, like Hathor, she sometimes took the form of Imentet , the goddess of the west, who welcomed the deceased soul into the afterlife as her child. But for much of Egyptian history, male deities such as Osiris were believed to provide the regenerative powers, including sexual potency, that were crucial for rebirth. Isis was thought to merely assist by stimulating this power. Feminine divine powers became more important in afterlife beliefs in

1547-515: A sacred hawk. Of these shrines one is now in the Louvre , the other in the Museum at Florence . Beyond the entrance into the principal court are small temples, one of which, dedicated to Isis, Hathor, and a wide range of deities related to midwifery , is covered with sculptures representing the birth of Ptolemy Philometor, under the figure of the god Horus . The story of Osiris is everywhere represented on

1666-470: A sign of her identity. The symbol serves as a phonogram , spelling the st sounds in her name, but it may have also represented a link with actual thrones. The Egyptian term for a throne was also st and may have shared a common etymology with Isis's name. Therefore, the Egyptologist Kurt Sethe suggested she was originally a personification of thrones. Henri Frankfort agreed, believing that

1785-426: A sign that Isis had the power to predict or influence future events, as did other deities who presided over birth, such as Shai and Renenutet . Texts from much later times call Isis "mistress of life, ruler of fate and destiny" and indicate she has control over Shai and Renenutet, just as other great deities such as Amun were said to do in earlier eras of Egyptian history. By governing these deities, Isis determined

1904-478: A small kiosk built by Psamtik II of the 26th Dynasty . This was followed by contributions from Amasis II (26th Dynasty) and Nectanebo I ( 30th Dynasty ). Of these early buildings, only two elements built by Nectanebo I survive– a kiosk that was originally the vestibule of the old Isis temple, and a gateway which was later incorporated into the first pylon of the current temple. More than two thirds of Philae's surviving structures were built in

2023-598: A small role, for instance, in the Dramatic Ramesseum Papyrus , the script for royal rituals performed in the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom. Her importance grew during the New Kingdom, when she was increasingly connected with Hathor and the human queen. The early first millennium BCE saw an increased emphasis on the family triad of Osiris, Isis, and Horus and an explosive growth in Isis's popularity. In

2142-415: A sow, representing her maternal character; as a cow , particularly when linked with Apis; or as a scorpion. She also took the form of a tree or a woman emerging from a tree, sometimes offering food and water to deceased souls. This form alluded to the maternal nourishment she provided. Beginning in the New Kingdom, thanks to the close links between Isis and Hathor, Isis took on Hathor's attributes, such as

2261-494: A wealthy woman who has refused to help Isis by stinging the woman's son, making it necessary for the goddess to heal the blameless child. Isis's reputation as a compassionate deity, willing to relieve human suffering, contributed greatly to her appeal. Isis continues to assist her son when he challenges Set to claim the kingship that Set has usurped, although mother and son are sometimes portrayed in conflict, as when Horus beheads Isis and she replaces her original head with that of

2380-490: Is Osiris's wife as well as his sister , is his queen. Set kills Osiris and, in several versions of the story, dismembers his corpse. Isis and Nephthys, along with other deities such as Anubis , search for the pieces of their brother's body and reassemble it. Their efforts are the mythic prototype for mummification and other ancient Egyptian funerary practices . According to some texts, they must also protect Osiris's body from further desecration by Set or his servants. Isis

2499-689: Is composed of syenite : its sides are steep and on their summits a lofty wall was built encompassing the island. Since Philae was said to be one of the burying-places of Osiris , it was held in high reverence both by the Egyptians to the north and the Nubians (often referred to as "Ethiopians" in Greek) to the south. It was deemed profane for any but priests to dwell there and was accordingly sequestered and denominated "the Unapproachable" ( Ancient Greek : ἄβατος ). It

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2618-429: Is presumably because the early Christians had some degree of respect for Horus or the legend of Horus - it may be because they saw parallels between the stories of Jesus and Horus (see Jesus in comparative mythology#Iconography and #Dying-and-rising god archetype ). The soil of Philae had been prepared carefully for the reception of its buildings–being leveled where it was uneven, and supported by masonry where it

2737-564: Is the epitome of a mourning widow. Her and Nephthys's love and grief for their brother help restore him to life, as does Isis's recitation of magical spells . Funerary texts contain speeches by Isis in which she expresses her sorrow at Osiris's death, her sexual desire for him, and even anger that he has left her. All these emotions play a part in his revival, as they are meant to stir him into action. Finally, Isis restores breath and life to Osiris's body and copulates with him, conceiving their son, Horus . After this point Osiris lives on only in

2856-526: Is treated as the mother of Horus even in the earliest copies of the Pyramid Texts. Yet there are signs that Hathor was originally regarded as his mother, and other traditions make an elder form of Horus the son of Nut and a sibling of Isis and Osiris. Isis may only have come to be Horus's mother as the Osiris myth took shape during the Old Kingdom, but through her relationship with him she came to be seen as

2975-694: The UNESCO Courier as "the greatest archaeological rescue operation of all time". In April 1979, the monuments were inscribed on the World Heritage List as the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae , as one of the second group of properties added to the list (the first 12 had been added in 1978). In 1954, UNESCO founded the CEDAE ( Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte , in English

3094-445: The Duat , or underworld. But by producing a son and heir to avenge his death and carry out funerary rites for him, Isis has ensured that her husband will endure in the afterlife. Isis's role in afterlife beliefs was based on that in the myth. She helped to restore the souls of deceased humans to wholeness as she had done for Osiris. Like other goddesses, such as Hathor , she also acted as

3213-742: The Fifth Dynasty ( c.  2494–2345 BCE ). An inscription that may refer to Isis dates to the reign of Nyuserre Ini during that period, and she appears prominently in the Pyramid Texts , which began to be written down at the end of the dynasty and whose content may have developed much earlier. Several passages in the Pyramid Texts link Isis with the region of the Nile Delta near Behbeit el-Hagar and Sebennytos , and her cult may have originated there. Many scholars have focused on Isis's name in trying to determine her origins. Her Egyptian name

3332-458: The Navigium Isidis , as well as initiation ceremonies resembling those of other Greco-Roman mystery cults . Some of her devotees said she encompassed all feminine divine powers in the world. The worship of Isis was ended by the rise of Christianity in the fourth through sixth centuries CE. Her worship may have influenced Christian beliefs and practices such as the veneration of Mary , but

3451-702: The 1970 completion of the Aswan High Dam. The hieroglyphic reliefs of the temple complex are being studied and published by the Philae Temple Text Project of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , Vienna (Institute OREA). Philae is mentioned by numerous ancient writers, including Strabo , Diodorus Siculus , Ptolemy , Seneca , Pliny the Elder . It was, as the plural name indicates, the appellation of two small islands situated in latitude 24° north , just above

3570-476: The 450s. Nevertheless, some adherence to traditional religion seems to have survived into the sixth century, based on a petition from Dioscorus of Aphrodito to the governor of the Thebaid dated to 567. The letter warns of an unnamed man (the text calls him "eater of raw meat") who, in addition to plundering houses and stealing tax revenue, is alleged to have restored paganism at "the sanctuaries", possibly referring to

3689-514: The Aswan Lower Dam, then in both 1912 and 1933 due to the rising water levels, and a fourth time after the creation of the Aswan High Dam . The forced relocation stripped many native Nubians of their ancestral homelands, with the compensation of unsuitable homes for living and agriculture. This forced many Nubians to immigrate to cities in Egypt and later Sudan. A timeline of the key dates of

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3808-519: The British prioritized the advancement of Modern Egypt at the expense of the complex. The height of the dam was raised twice, from 1907 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1934, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the only times that the complex was not underwater was when the dam 's sluices were open from July to October. It was proposed that the temples be relocated, piece by piece, to nearby islands, such as Bigeh or Elephantine . However,

3927-719: The Documentation and Study Centre for the History of the Art and Civilization of Ancient Egypt) in Cairo under the direction of Christiane Desroches Noblecourt , who was a French Egyptologist at the Louvre . The Study Centre worked on documenting over 400 private tombs, primarily through photography and photogrammetry . By September of 1955, field expeditions under Dr. Ahmed Badawi were undertaken in Nubia with UNESCO permission. By 1959, Tharwat Okasha ,

4046-406: The Documentation and Study Centre for the History of the Art and Civilization of Ancient Egypt) in Cairo , held a leading role within the archeological survey aspect of the campaign. She was tasked with the manner in which notes would be circulated during the project, suggesting that archaeological missions working in Nubia would be required to hand over copies publications and notes produced during

4165-659: The Egyptian Minister of Culture sought to work alongside UNESCO to safeguard and preserve Nubian monuments. He met with the Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, René Maheu to submit his appeal, which was quickly reassured to be responded to by Director-General Vittorino Veronese . A proposal was submitted to the Executive Board of UNESCO, which would later mount the International Campaign to Save

4284-449: The First Cataract near Aswan (Egyptian Swenet "Trade;" Ancient Greek : Συήνη ). Groskurd computes the distance between these islands and Aswan at about 100 km (62 mi). Despite being the smaller island, Philae proper was, from the numerous and picturesque ruins formerly there, the more interesting of the two. Before the inundation, it was not more than 380 metres (1,250 ft) long and about 120 metres (390 ft) broad. It

4403-634: The God, were to come sweeping round between the palms and pylons–we should not think it strange. These visits are only a small sample of the great interest that Victorian-era Britain had for Egypt. Soon, tourism to Philae became common. In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British . This threatened to submerge many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae. However,

4522-452: The Monuments of Nubia. This was officially began after Vittorino Veronese 's appeal to the Executive Board of UNESCO on March 8, 1960. During the proposal, he described it: "It is not easy to choose between a heritage of the past and the present well-being of a people, living in need in the shadow of one of history's most splendid legacies, it is not easy to choose between temples and crops." Doing so, he pointed out various concerns regarding

4641-570: The Nubian and Ptolemaic governments, but others consider them to represent a period of Nubian occupation of the region, likely enabled by the revolt of Hugronaphor in Upper Egypt. The cartouches of Arqamani were later erased by Ptolemy V, while the stela of Adikhalamani was eventually reused as filling under the floor of the pronaos. The Roman era saw an overall decline in pilgrimage to Philae, especially from Mediterranean regions, as evidenced by

4760-541: The Osiris myth. Isis is part of the Ennead of Heliopolis , a family of nine deities descended from the creator god, Atum or Ra . She and her siblings—Osiris, Set , and Nephthys —are the last generation of the Ennead, born to Geb , god of the earth, and Nut , goddess of the sky. The creator god, the world's original ruler, passes down his authority through the male generations of the Ennead, so that Osiris becomes king. Isis, who

4879-500: The Persarmenian in accordance with an order of Byzantine emperor Justinian I . This event is conventionally considered to mark the end of ancient Egyptian religion . However, its importance has recently come into question, following a major study by Jitse Dijkstra who argues that organised paganism at Philae ended in the fifth century, based on the fact that the last inscriptional evidence of an active pagan priesthood there dates to

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4998-630: The Ptolemaic era, during which the island became a prominent site of pilgrimage not only for Egyptians and Nubians but for pilgrims from as far as Anatolia , Crete , and the Greek mainland. In this way, Philae gradually overtook Elephantine as the most important sanctuary in southern Egypt. Some of these pilgrims marked their presence with inscriptions on the temple walls, including votive inscriptions known as proskynemata , as well as other types. Among these are inscriptions left by three Romans (maybe ambassadors) at

5117-474: The UNESCO banner; it cost some US$ 40 million (equivalent to $ 632 million in 2024). Between 1964 and 1968, the entire site was carefully cut into large blocks (up to 30 tons, averaging 20 tons), dismantled, lifted and reassembled in a new location 65 metres higher and 200 metres back from the river, in one of the greatest challenges of archaeological engineering in history. Some structures were even saved from under

5236-459: The Younger , a British Egyptologist and museum curator visited the island. So did Amelia Edwards , a British novelist in 1873–1874. 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

5355-419: The ancient days, but with each inundation the situation worsened and in the 1960s the island was submerged up to a third of the buildings all year round. In 1960 UNESCO started a project to try to save the buildings on the island from the destructive effect of the ever-increasing waters of the Nile . First, building three dams and creating a separate lake with lower water levels was considered. First of all,

5474-445: The ancients. Then every building was dismantled into about 40,000 units from 2 to 25 tons, and then transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia , situated on higher ground some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away. The transfer itself took place between 1977 and 1979. Prior to the inundation, a little west of Philae lay a larger island, anciently called Snem or Senmut, but now Bigeh . It is very steep, and from its most elevated peak affords

5593-415: The aspect of an arch belonging to a church or mosque . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Smith, William , ed. (1854–1857). " Philae ". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography . London: John Murray. International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia

5712-598: The campaign is shown below: The campaign was primarily led by Tharwat Okasha , the Egyptian Minister of Culture , René Maheu , Assistant Director-General of UNESCO, and Christiane Desroches Noblecourt , French Egyptologist at the Louvre . The number of relocated monuments have been stated as 22 or 24 depending on how an individual site is defined. Only one archaeological site in Lower Nubia, Qasr Ibrim , remains in its original location and above water; previously

5831-663: The chapel of Abu Oda (cut out of rock), the chapels of Qasr Ibrim (the rest of which has remained in situ ), and many rock inscriptions and drawings, were also saved. Early in the campaign, the West German authorities offered to dismantle and re-erect the Temple of Kalabsha , the largest temple in all of Lower Nubia , with costs paid by West Germany . Germany's interest in making a significant contribution stemmed from its Egyptological heritage, including Lepsius' milestone work Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien , as more specifically

5950-524: The city of Aswan ): Relocated sites, south of the Aswan Low Dam Sites in their original location, north of the Aswan Low Dam – although these five sites are grouped within the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae", they are neither Nubian, nor between Abu Simbel and Philae Isis Meroitic : Wos[a] or Wusa B C D F G H I K M N P Q R S T U W Isis

6069-607: The creation of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, and thus the system of UNESCO World Heritage Sites . The construction of the Aswan Dam was a key objective of the new regime the Free Officers movement of 1952 in order to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity , all of which were seen as pivotal for the industrialization of Egypt . The building of

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6188-410: The dam was to result in the creation of Lake Nasser , which would submerge the banks of the Nile along its entire 479 km (298 mi) length south of the dam – flooding the entire area of historical Lower Nubia. This region was home to 22 critical historical sites, including but not limited to the Abu Simbel temples; as well as the temples at Philae , Kalabsha and Amada . It was described in

6307-404: The dead enter the afterlife as she had helped Osiris, and she was considered the divine mother of the pharaoh , who was likened to Horus. Her maternal aid was invoked in healing spells to benefit ordinary people. Originally, she played a limited role in royal rituals and temple rites, although she was more prominent in funerary practices and magical texts. She was usually portrayed in art as

6426-404: 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

6545-464: The distinctive traits of their deity more than on her universality, whereas some Egyptian hymns to Isis treat other goddesses in cult centers from across Egypt and the Mediterranean as manifestations of her. A text in her temple at Dendera says "in each nome it is she who is in every town, in every nome with her son Horus." In Ancient Egyptian art , Isis was most commonly depicted as a woman with

6664-453: The early fourth century), who is said to have killed the sacred falcon kept on the island, though modern experts question the historicity of this account. By the mid fifth century, a petition from Bishop Appion of Syene to co-emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III indicates the presence of multiple churches on the island functioning alongside the pagan temples. Traditional worship at Philae appears to have survived into at least

6783-527: The epitome of maternal devotion. In the developed form of the myth, Isis gives birth to Horus, after a long pregnancy and a difficult labor, in the papyrus thickets of the Nile Delta. As her child grows she must protect him from Set and many other hazards—snakes, scorpions, and simple illness. In some texts, Isis travels among humans and must seek their help. According to one such story, seven minor scorpion deities travel with and guard her. They take revenge on

6902-471: The evidence for this influence is ambiguous and often controversial. Isis continues to appear in Western culture , particularly in esotericism and modern paganism , often as a personification of nature or the feminine aspect of divinity. Whereas some Egyptian deities appeared in the late Predynastic Period (before c.  3100 BCE ), neither Isis nor her husband Osiris were mentioned by name before

7021-531: The fierce light which illuminates all surrounding objects. The most conspicuous feature of both islands was their architectural wealth. Monuments of various eras, extending from the Pharaohs to the Caesars, occupy nearly their whole area. The principal structures, however, lay at the south end of the smaller island. The most ancient was a temple for Isis , built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380–362 BC, which

7140-568: The fifth century, despite the anti-pagan discrimination at times. In fact, the fifth-century historian Priscus mentions a treaty between the Roman commander Maximinus and the Blemmyes and Nobades in 452, which amongst other things ensured access to the cult image of Isis. According to the sixth-century historian Procopius , the temple was closed down officially in AD ;537 by the local commander Narses

7259-465: The first pylon in the summer of 116 BC, which represent the oldest known Latin inscriptions in Egypt. Along with the various contributions of Ptolemaic rulers, Philae also received additions from the Nubian king Arqamani , who contributed to the Temple of Arensnuphis and the mammisi , and his successor Adikhalamani , whose name has been found on a stela on the island. Some experts have interpreted these additions as signs of collaboration between

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7378-448: The foremost Egyptian deity during the Middle and New Kingdoms, also took on the role of Kamutef, and when he was in this form, Isis often acted as his consort. Apis , a bull that was worshipped as a living god at Memphis , was said to be Isis's son, fathered by a form of Osiris known as Osiris-Apis. The biological mother of each Apis bull was thus known as the "Isis cow". Isis was said to be

7497-431: The frontier with Nubian peoples who raided Egypt, she was described as the protectress of the entire nation, more effective in battle than "millions of soldiers", supporting Ptolemaic kings and Roman emperors in their efforts to subdue Egypt's enemies. Isis was also known for her magical power , which enabled her to revive Osiris and to protect and heal Horus, and for her cunning. By virtue of her magical knowledge, she

7616-466: The idea was made into a proposal by architects Jane Drew and Maxwell Fry and civil engineer Ove Arup . They considered that raising the temples ignored the effect of erosion of the sandstone by desert winds. However, the proposal, though acknowledged to be extremely elegant, was rejected. The salvage of the Abu Simbel temples began in 1964 by a multinational team of archeologists, engineers and skilled heavy equipment operators working together under

7735-465: The king nursing at Isis's breast; her milk not only healed her child, but symbolized his divine right to rule. Royal ideology increasingly emphasized the importance of queens as earthly counterparts of the goddesses who served as wives to the king and mothers to his heirs. Initially the most important of these goddesses was Hathor, whose attributes in art were incorporated into queens' crowns. But because of her own mythological links with queenship, Isis too

7854-500: The late New Kingdom. Various Ptolemaic funerary texts emphasize that Isis took the active role in Horus's conception by sexually stimulating her inert husband, some tomb decoration from the Roman period in Egypt depicts Isis in a central role in the afterlife, and a funerary text from that era suggests that women were thought able to join the retinue of Isis and Nephthys in the afterlife. Isis

7973-427: The length and quality of human lives. Horus was equated with each living pharaoh and Osiris with the pharaoh's deceased predecessors. Isis was therefore the mythological mother and wife of kings. In the Pyramid Texts her primary importance to the king was as one of the deities who protected and assisted him in the afterlife. Her prominence in royal ideology grew in the New Kingdom. Temple reliefs from that time on show

8092-537: The moon, possibly because she was linked with the Greek lunar goddess Artemis by a shared connection with an Egyptian fertility goddess, Bastet . In hymns inscribed at Philae she is called the "Lady of Heaven" whose dominion over the sky parallels Osiris's rule over the Duat and Horus's kingship on earth. In Ptolemaic times Isis's sphere of influence could include the entire cosmos. As the deity that protected Egypt and endorsed its king, she had power over all nations, and as

8211-553: The mother of Bastet by Ra . A story in the Westcar Papyrus from the Middle Kingdom includes Isis among a group of goddesses who serve as midwives during the delivery of three future kings. She serves a similar role in New Kingdom texts that describe the divinely ordained births of reigning pharaohs. In the Westcar Papyrus, Isis calls out the names of the three children as they are born. Barbara S. Lesko sees this story as

8330-471: The names and titles of Amenhotep III , Ramesses II , Psamtik II , Apries , and Amasis II , together with memorials of the later Macedonian and Roman rulers of Egypt. Its principal ruins consisted of the propylon and two columns of a temple, which was apparently of small dimensions, but of elegant proportions. Near them were the fragments of two colossal granite statues and also an excellent piece of masonry of much later date, having

8449-664: The nearby Island of Agilkia , situated on higher ground some 500 metres (1,600 ft) away. Foundations of the Philae monuments were ready on Agilkia by April 1977, and the transfer itself took place between 1977 and 1980. In addition to participating directly in the high profile salvage operations of Abu Simbel and Philae , the Egyptian Antiquities Organization carried out the rescue of many smaller temples and monuments alone using their own financial and technical means. As early as 1960 Egypt had started to rescue

8568-466: The need to preserve Nubian cultural heritage sites in Egypt and Sudan while promoting the welfare of Egypt in relation to the proposed Aswan Dam . The proposal was accepted, by the participation of many member states of UNESCO, though with the rule that 50% of finds would be relocated to museums in participating countries. The intention of the campaign became to perform a massive archeological survey of

8687-512: The nineteenth century, William John Bankes took the Philae obelisk on which this petition was engraved to England . When its Egyptian hieroglyphs were compared with those of the Rosetta Stone , it threw great light upon the Egyptian consonantal alphabet. The islands of Philae were not, however, merely sacerdotal abodes; they were the centres of commerce also between Meroë and Memphis . For

8806-412: The oversight of UNESCO, insisting that they could meet demands of donors without UNESCO involvement. Despite this, UNESCO continued a significant amount of oversight throughout the duration of the campaign. The construction of Lake Nasser , as well as the excavations required in the Nubia campaign, involved the relocation of many Nubians native to the region. First in 1902 due to the construction of

8925-529: The primary roles to local deities. At Philae, Isis is described as the creator in the same way that older texts speak of the work of the god Ptah , who was said to have designed the world with his intellect and sculpted it into being. Like him, Isis formed the cosmos "through what her heart conceived and her hands created". Like other deities throughout Egyptian history, Isis had many forms in her individual cult centers, and each cult center emphasized different aspects of her character. Local Isis cults focused on

9044-491: The project by the global coalition of nations. The vast majority of these contributions funded the operations at Abu Simbel and Philae. In April 1979, the monuments were inscribed on the World Heritage List as the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae". The inscribed area includes ten sites, five of which were relocated (all south of the city of Aswan ), and five of which remain in their original position (near to

9163-463: The project to the Centre, and abiding by the Centre's publication techniques. Excavations from Egypt would be only required to send over copies of notes, without requiring copies of publications or oversight into said publications. This is theorized to be related to the post-colonial desire to fortify Egyptian identity in a cultural history following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution . The removal of temples

9282-400: The propyla were two colossal lions in granite, behind which stood a pair of obelisks , each 13 metres (43 ft) high. The propyla were pyramidal in form and colossal in dimensions. One stood between the dromos and pronaos , another between the pronaos and the portico , while a smaller one led into the sekos or adyton . At each corner of the adytum stood a monolithic shrine, the cage of

9401-509: The provider of rain, she enlivened the natural world. The Philae hymn that initially calls her ruler of the sky goes on to expand her authority, so at its climax her dominion encompasses the sky, earth, and Duat. It says her power over nature nourishes humans, the blessed dead, and the gods. Other, Greek-language hymns from Ptolemaic Egypt call her "the beautiful essence of all the gods". In the course of Egyptian history, many deities, major and minor, had been described in similar grand terms. Amun

9520-448: The rapids of the cataracts were at most seasons impracticable, and the commodities exchanged between Egypt and Nubia were reciprocally landed and re-embarked at Syene and Philae. The neighbouring granite quarries also attracted a numerous population of miners and stonemasons; and, for the convenience of this traffic, a gallery or road was formed in the rocks along the east bank of the Nile, portions of which are still extant. Philae also

9639-554: The reduced number of inscriptions. Nevertheless, it remained an important sacred site, especially for Nubians, who continued to visit both as individual pilgrims and in official delegations from their government in Meroë. Several Roman emperors made artistic and architectural contributions to Philae. While most of the architectural additions date to the Julio-Claudian dynasty , the island continued to receive contributions to its temples up to

9758-420: The region, and the second was to rescue temples and sites through feats of engineering. The level of fieldwork for the project had not been previous undertaken on equivalent scale or length of time, leaving many to praise the campaign as a feat of the field of archeology. Christiane Desroches Noblecourt , who remained in charge of the CEDAE ( Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte , in English

9877-468: The relocation operations, many countries participated in excavation and preservation work. Some of this work took place at the CEDAE ( Centre d'Étude et de Documentation sur l'Ancienne Égypte , in English the Documentation and Study Centre for the History of the Art and Civilization of Ancient Egypt), founded in Cairo in 1955 to coordinate the academic efforts: The table below summarizes the contributions towards

9996-470: The rest of the temple with the same railway system. Amada was considered "one of the most distinctive and best preserved examples of the art of the 18th dynasty." Given the impending flooding of a wide area, Egypt and Sudan encouraged archaeological teams from across the world to carry out work as broadly as possible. Approximately 40 teams from across the world came to the region, to explore an area of approximately 500 km in length. In addition to

10115-666: The sculptures of this temple. The work of deletion is attributable, in the first instance, to the zeal of the early Christians , and afterward, to the policy of the Iconoclasts , who curried favour for themselves with the Byzantine court by the destruction of heathen images as well as Christian ones. Images/icons of Horus are often less mutilated than the other carvings. In some wall scenes, every figure and hieroglyphic text except that of Horus and his winged solar-disk representation has been meticulously scratched out by early Christians. This

10234-454: The sculptures on the columns, the ceilings, and the walls were painted with the most vivid colors, which, owing to the dryness of the climate, have lost little of their original brilliance. The ancient Egyptian name of the smaller island meant "boundary". As their southern frontier, the pharaohs of Egypt kept there a strong garrison, and it was also a barracks for Greek and Roman soldiers in their turn. The first religious building on Philae

10353-477: The southern extremity of the dromos of the Great Temple was a smaller temple, apparently dedicated to Hathor ; at least the few columns that remained of it are surmounted with the head of that goddess. Its portico consisted of twelve columns, four in front and three deep. Their capitals represented various forms and combinations of the palm branch , the doum palm branch, and the lotus flower . These, as well as

10472-417: The start of the Nile flood , gave Sopdet a close connection with the flood and the resulting growth of plants. Partly because of her relationship with Sopdet, Isis was also linked with the flood, which was sometimes equated with the tears she shed for Osiris. By Ptolemaic times she was connected with rain, which Egyptian texts call a "Nile in the sky"; with the sun as the protector of Ra's barque; and with

10591-453: The story seems to treat her as having such abilities even before learning his name. Many of the roles Isis acquired gave her an important position in the sky. Passages in the Pyramid Texts connect Isis closely with Sopdet , the goddess representing the star Sirius , whose relationship with her husband Sah —the constellation Orion —and their son Sopdu parallels Isis's relations with Osiris and Horus. Sirius's heliacal rising , just before

10710-415: The temples at Philae. Philae retained significance as a Christian centre even after its closure as a pagan site. Five of its temples were converted into churches (including the Temple of Isis, which was dedicated to Saint Stephen ), and two purpose-built churches were constructed on the north side of the island. The island of Philae attracted much attention in the 19th century. In the 1820s, Joseph Bonomi

10829-410: The temples of Taffeh (or Taffa), Debod and Qertassi, followed by Dakka and Maharraqa in 1961 and Dendur in 1962. The temples of Wadi es-Sebua and Beit el Wali and the rock tomb of Pennut at Aniba were moved in 1964 with the support of a US grant, whilst the subsequent re-erection was carried out with Egyptian resources. The Temple of Derr was rescued in 1965, and the temples of Gerf Husein ,

10948-452: 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. The temples had been practically intact since

11067-415: 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 . With each inundation the situation worsened and in the 1960s the island was submerged up to a third of the buildings all year round. The work began in 1972, and in 1974 a large coffer dam was built, constructed of two rows of steel plates between which

11186-404: The throne was considered the king's mother, and thus a goddess, because of its power to make a man into a king. Other scholars, such as Jürgen Osing and Klaus P. Kuhlmann, have disputed this interpretation, because of dissimilarities between Isis's name and the word for a throne or a lack of evidence that the throne was ever deified. The cycle of myth surrounding Osiris's death and resurrection

11305-420: The time of Caracalla as well as a triple arch built by Diocletian . In AD 298, Diocletian ceded Roman territory south of the First Cataract as part of an agreement made with the neighboring Nobades , withdrawing the border to about the area of Philae itself. The Kushite king Yesebokheamani made a pilgrimage to Philae in this period and may have taken over the Roman hegemony. During the Roman era, Philae

11424-415: The typical attributes of a goddess: a sheath dress, a staff of papyrus in one hand, and an ankh sign in the other. Her original headdress was the throne sign used in writing her name. She and Nephthys often appear together, particularly when mourning Osiris's death, supporting him on his throne, or protecting the sarcophagi of the dead. In these situations their arms are often flung across their faces, in

11543-444: The walls of this temple, and two of its inner chambers are particularly rich in symbolic imagery. Upon the two great propyla are Greek inscriptions intersected and partially destroyed by Egyptian figures cut across them. The monuments in both islands indeed attested, beyond any others in the Nile valley, the survival of pure Egyptian art centuries after the last of the Pharaohs had ceased to reign. Great pains have been taken to mutilate

11662-454: The waters of Lake Nasser . In 1902, the Aswan Low Dam was completed on the Nile River by the British. This threatened to submerge many ancient landmarks, including the temple complex of Philae . The height of the dam was raised twice, from 1907 to 1912 and from 1929 to 1934, and the island of Philae was nearly always flooded. In fact, the only times that the complex was not underwater

11781-524: The wider Mediterranean world. Isis's Greek devotees ascribed to her traits taken from Greek deities , such as the invention of marriage and the protection of ships at sea. As Hellenistic culture was absorbed by Rome in the first century BCE, the cult of Isis became a part of Roman religion . Her devotees were a small proportion of the Roman Empire 's population but were found all across its territory. Her following developed distinctive festivals such as

11900-518: The work of Franz Christian Gau who had documented Kalabsha as early as 1819. In addition to the work of French archaeologists at Abu Simbel , the French government provided significant technical and financial support for the removal of the Temple of Amada . In 1964, the front portion of the temple was dismantled and transported on rails by the U.A.R. Antiquities Service. French archeologists then excavated

12019-785: The wrong. In later texts, she uses her powers of transformation to fight and destroy Set and his followers. Many stories about Isis appear as historiolae , prologues to magical texts that describe mythic events related to the goal that the spell aims to accomplish. In one spell, Isis creates a snake that bites Ra, who is older and greater than she is, and makes him ill with its venom. She offers to cure Ra if he will tell her his true, secret name —a piece of knowledge that carries with it incomparable power. After much coercion, Ra tells her his name, which she passes on to Horus, bolstering his royal authority. The story may be meant as an origin story to explain why Isis's magical ability surpasses that of other deities, but because she uses magic to subdue Ra,

12138-566: Was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world . Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom ( c.  2686  – c.  2181 BCE ) as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth , in which she resurrects her slain brother and husband, the divine king Osiris , and produces and protects his heir, Horus . She was believed to help

12257-497: Was a project of greater difficulty. 18 of the 25 temples in the area affected by the Aswan Dam were rescued in whole or in part during the project. Sites were prioritized by importance, including the most expensive site excavated being Abu Simbel . A honorary committee was first founded by King Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden to create international support for the campaign, with various world political leaders and UNESCO members as participants. An official International Action Committee

12376-454: Was a religious center for Egyptians and Nubians alike. Her reputed magical power was greater than that of all other gods, and she was said to govern the natural world and wield power over fate itself. In the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE), when Egypt was ruled and settled by Greeks , Isis was worshipped by Greeks and Egyptians, along with a new god, Serapis . Their worship diffused into

12495-650: Was approached from the river through a double colonnade . Nekhtnebef was his ancient Egyptian royal titulary and he became the founding pharaoh of the Thirtieth and last native dynasty when he deposed and killed Nepherites II . For the most part, the other ruins date from the Ptolemaic Kingdom, more especially with the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus , Ptolemy V Epiphanes , and Ptolemy VI Philometor (282–145 BC), with many traces of Roman work in Philae dedicated to Ammon - Osiris . In front of

12614-407: Was crumbling or insecure. For example, the western wall of the Great Temple, and the corresponding wall of the dromos, were supported by very strong foundations, built below the pre-inundation level of the water, and rested on the granite which in this region forms the bed of the Nile. Here and there steps were hewn out from the wall to facilitate the communication between the temple and the river. At

12733-479: Was established after under the UNESCO Director General in order to secure funding, service, and equipment from participating member states. They decided that UNESCO would be in charge of planning the program of operations, coordination of labor, and the collection of funding. The intention was for them to serve as an intermediaries between donors and the nations of Egypt and Sudan . Egyptians contested

12852-560: Was first recorded in the Pyramid Texts and grew into the most elaborate and influential of all Egyptian myths . Isis plays a more active role in this myth than the other protagonists, so as it developed in literature from the New Kingdom ( c.  1550 –1070 BCE) to the Ptolemaic Period (305–30 BCE), she became the most complex literary character of all Egyptian deities. At the same time, she absorbed characteristics from many other goddesses, broadening her significance well beyond

12971-463: Was given the same titles and regalia as human queens. Isis's actions in protecting Osiris against Set became part of a larger, more warlike aspect of her character. New Kingdom funerary texts portray Isis in the barque of Ra as he sails through the underworld, acting as one of several deities who subdue Ra's archenemy, Apep . Kings also called upon her protective magical power against human enemies. In her Ptolemaic temple at Philae , which lay near

13090-402: Was likely a shrine built by Pharaoh Taharqa of the 25th Dynasty , which was probably dedicated to Amun . However this structure is only known from a few blocks reused in later buildings, which Gerhard Haeny suspects may have been brought over for reuse from structures elsewhere. The oldest temple to have undoubtedly stood on the island, as well as the first evidence of Isis-worship there, was

13209-520: Was most commonly described this way in the New Kingdom, whereas in Roman Egypt such terms tended to be applied to Isis. Such texts do not deny the existence of other deities but treat them as aspects of the supreme deity, a type of theology sometimes called " summodeism ". In the Late, Ptolemaic, and Roman Periods, many temples contained a creation myth that adapted long-standing ideas about creation to give

13328-470: Was remarkable for the singular effects of light and shade resulting from its position near the Tropic of Cancer . As the sun approached its northern limit the shadows from the projecting cornices and moldings of the temples sink lower and lower down the plain surfaces of the walls, until, the sun having reached its highest altitude, the vertical walls are overspread with dark shadows, forming a striking contrast with

13447-513: Was reported too that neither birds flew over it nor fish approached its shores. These indeed were the traditions of a remote period; since in the time of the Ptolemaic Kingdom , Philae was so much resorted to, partly by pilgrims to the tomb of Osiris, partly by persons on secular errands, that the priests petitioned Ptolemy VIII Physcon (170–117 BC) to prohibit public functionaries at least from coming there and living at their expense. In

13566-460: Was said to be "more clever than a million gods". In several episodes in the New Kingdom story " The Contendings of Horus and Set ", Isis uses these abilities to outmaneuver Set during his conflict with her son. On one occasion, she transforms into a young woman who tells Set she is involved in an inheritance dispute similar to Set's usurpation of Osiris's crown. When Set calls this situation unjust, Isis taunts him, saying he has judged himself to be in

13685-428: Was syncretized with the fertility god Min , so Isis was regarded as Min's mother. A form of Min known as Kamutef, "bull of his mother", who represented the cyclical regeneration of the gods and of kingship, was said to impregnate his mother to engender himself. Thus, Isis was also regarded as Min's consort. The same ideology of kingship may lie behind a tradition, found in a few texts, that Horus raped Isis. Amun ,

13804-524: Was the effort to relocate 22 monuments in Lower Nubia , in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan , between 1960 and 1980. This was done in order to make way for the building of the Aswan Dam , at the Nile's first cataract (shallow rapids), a project launched following the 1952 Egyptian Revolution . This project was undertaken under UNESCO leadership and a coalition of fifty countries. This process led to

13923-499: Was the site of the last known inscription in Egyptian hieroglyphs , written in AD 394, and the last known Demotic inscription, written in 452. Christianity seems to have been present at Philae by the fourth century, at which point it coexisted with traditional Egyptian religion. According to the Coptic hagiography Life of Aaron , the first bishop of Philae was Macedonius (attested in

14042-407: Was when the dam's sluices were open from July to October. During this period it was proposed 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

14161-569: Was written as 𓊨𓏏𓆇𓁐 ( ꜣst ), the pronunciation of which changed over time: Rūsat > Rūsaʾ > ʾŪsaʾ > ʾĒsə , which became ⲎⲤⲈ ( Ēse ) in the Coptic form of Egyptian , Wusa in the Meroitic language of Nubia, and Ἶσις , on which her modern name is based, in Greek . The hieroglyphic writing of her name incorporates the sign for a throne, which Isis also wears on her head as

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