The Goddess Isis in her Earthly Home at Philae Temple with her Husband Osiris

The Temple of Philae was the earthly home of the Goddess Isis, she was the goddess of healing, love, fertility, healing, magic and the moon.  Her magical power was believed to be  greater than that of all other gods, and she was said to protect the kingdom from its enemies, govern the skies and the natural world, and have power over fate itself. Various texts claim that Isis organized the behavior of the sun, moon, and stars, governing time and the seasons which, in turn, guaranteed the fertility of the earth.

Isis is shown on the reliefs in the temple of Philae to be the Mother and Protector of the King. In the Birth House of the temple of Isis, rites were held at every new king´s ascendancy to the throne of Egypt, to manifest and secure his Divine Birth.

According to myth Isis mourned the death of her husband Osiris after his brother Set had murdered him and cut his body up, purposely scattering all his body parts  across Egypt, to deny Osiris an eternal life.  Her mourning and lamentation  Hymn for Osiris :

'Sing we Osiris dead, lament the fallen head...The light has left the world, the world is grey...Athwart the starry skies the web of darkness lies...Sing we Osiris, passed away. Ye tears, ye stars, ye fires, ye rivers shed... Weep, children of the Nile, weep – for your Lord is dead.'


With the help of the God Thoth it is said that for many years Isis searched all over Egypt, for the scattered  parts of Osiris body, and that she found his heart on the Island of Philae, and once she had found all the parts of Osiris then with her magic powers she  restored her husband Osiris back to life, and had a son with him who they named Horus. 

The God Amun told Isis that her husband Osiris couldn't walk the Earth any more, but that he would give him Eternal life and make him the God of The Underworld   It is said that Isis buried her husband on the small Island of Bigeh close to the Island of Philae, and that she would go over the water in her holy barque to visit the Island once a week (in Ancient Egypt a week was 10 days) where together with her priests she would perform the funerary rites for Osiris.

The temple on Philae was built in the Last two centuries of the Greek invasion of Egypt, and the first three centuries of the Roman conquest. Initially both the Greek and Romans embraced the faith of Isis, and they were eager to show their commitment to the ancient Egyptian religion, but later  at Philae Aset (Isis) and Het-Hert (Hathor), for whom there is a small temple too, have merged into one deity. In the first courtyard the columns have the beautifully serene head of Hathor. 

In 1902 the British built a dam and the temple of Isis was under flood waters for most of the year, so tourists sailed around the temple  in boats going through it's inner courtyard, and around the Kiosk of Tragan

In 1960 construction of the Aswan Dam began which would have completely submerged the complex temples on Philae island, so the temples and kiosk were meticulously surveyed, and then they were dismantled piece by piece and moved to the Island of Agiliki which was on higher ground, and would be safe from the flood waters. It is a beautiful motorboat ride to the Island, and as you come around the corner the Temple of Isis and Trajan'the s kiosk rise above you.

There are six hymns to Isis in her Inner Sanctuary, In these hymns Isis is described as Creator of all life as well as Royal Spouse and Mother of God, which would make her the chief deity not only in her own Temple at Philae, but all over the whole land of Egypt. The worship of the Goddess Isis also traveled across the Mediterranean as it was embraced by both the Greeks and later the Romans., until the Romans adopted Christianity. With the Rise of Christianity the Temple of Isis was the last temple in Egypt to worship the Ancient Egyptian Gods, and the last known hieroglyphs (Gods words) were written on it's temple walls.

In the Inner sanctuary of Isis the walls are covered with Hieroglyphic text and hymns praising Isis.
One of the hieroglyphic hymns translated by Louis Zakbar reads :

'Praise to you Isis, the Great One, God's Mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the Gods. You are the first Royal Spouse of Of Onnophris, (Osiris) The Supreme overseer of the Golden ones in the temple, The eldest son of Geb, first born of Geb, Praise to you Isis, the Great One, God's Mother, Lady of Heaven, Mistress and Queen of the Gods.'

Looking around the Temple you can see lots of Christian graffiti scratched onto the Temple walls and columns, as her temple had been turned into a church when the Romans had converted to Christianity, it still has a Christian altar in one of the sanctuaries. Walking around the temple I saw that the face of Isis had been obliterated by a deep cut Coptic Cross, in an attempt to banish her from her own temple.

In 535 the Emperor Justinian banned the 'pagan religion' and closed the Temple of Isis, as well as the rest of the temples on the Island of Philea dedicated to Hathor and Horus, the priests were jailed, and the living falcon (a representation of Isis son  Horus) was slaughtered.

The Temple of the Goddess Isis at Philae was submerged by the Rising waters due to the construction of two Aswan Dams.

In the 1970s, the island of Philae, and the earthly home of the Goddess Isis was submerged by the rising waters, due to the construction of the two Aswan dams . The first dam had been built by the British in 1906.

Because of the dam, the only time Philae Island wasn't flooded was from July to October  when the dam sluices were open. And so if you wanted to visit the earthly home of the Goddess Isis during the Winter months, the only way that you could see the temple was by boat.

In 1960 UNESCO started a project to try to save the buildings on the Island.

A large coffer dam was built using  one million cubic meters of sand. Then a survey of the temples was made so that they would no exactly how to reconstruct the complex of temples.

The temples were cleaned as they had a lot of sediment on them from the River, and then all the  buildings on the Island were dismantled into about 40,000 units and then transported to the nearby Island of Agilkia, that was on higher ground a short distance from Philae Island near to Aswan.

The Complex of temples on the original Island were built during the last two centuries of the Greek rule of Egypt and the first three centuries AD of the Roman invasion and rule of Egypt. Both the Greeks and early Romans embraced the worship of the Goddess Isis, and in all of Egypt the Temple of Isis was the last temple to be closed, when the Emperor Justinian outlawed the worship of the Egyptian Gods, and some of the chambers inside the temple of Isis were converted for the use of Christian worship. In one relief that I noticed in particular of the Goddess Isis, her face has been completely obliterated by a deep cut Coptic cross to subdue her ancient powers.

In this photograph the tourists are just passing the Kiosk of Tragan that is also known as 'Pharaoh's Bed'. It was built by the Roman Emperor Trajan, and the reliefs inside the kiosk show Trajan as a pharaoh making offerings to the Goddess Isis, her husband Osiris, and their son Horus. The kiosk has 14 massive columns that have beautifully carved floral capitals.