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PHILAE

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 373 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PHILAE , an islet in the See also:

Nile above the First See also:Cataract, of See also:great beauty and See also:interest, but since the completion of the See also:Assuan See also:dam in 1902 submerged except for a few months yearly during High Nile (See also:July to See also:October), when the See also:water is allowed to run freely through the sluices of the Assuan dam. Philae is the nearest See also:island to the point where the See also:ancient See also:desert road from Assuan rejoins the See also:river See also:south of the cataract. It marks also the end of the cataract region. Below it the channel is broad and straight with rocky See also:granite islands to the See also:west. The name in See also:Egyptian was Pilak, " the See also:angle (?) island ": the See also:Arabs See also:call it Anas el Wagud, after the See also:hero of a romantic See also:tale in the Arabian Nights. Ancient graffiti abound in all this See also:district, and on Bigeh, a larger island adjoining Philae, there was a See also:temple as See also:early as the reign of Tethmosis III. The name of See also:Amasis II. (57o-J35 B.C.) is said to have been found at Philae, and it is possible that there were still older buildings which have been swallowed up in later constructions. About 350 B.C. Nekhtnebf, the last of the native See also:kings of See also:Egypt, built a temple to See also:Isis, most of which was destroyed by floods. See also:Ptolemy Philadelphus reconstructed some of this See also:work and began a large temple which Ptolemy Euergetes I. completed, but the decoration, carried on under later See also:Ptolemies and Caesars, was never finished. The temple of Isis was the See also:chief See also:sanctuary of the Dodecaschoenus, the portion of See also:Lower See also:Nubia generally held by the Ptolemies and See also:Romans.

The little island won great favour as a religious resort. not only for the Egyptians and the Ethiopians and others who frequented the border district and the See also:

market of Assuan, but also for See also:Greek and See also:Roman visitors. One temple or See also:chapel after another sprang up upon it dedicated to various gods, including the Nubian Mandulis. Ergamenes (Arkamane), See also:king of See also:Ethiopia, shared with the Ptolemies in the See also:building. Besidesthe temple of Isis with its See also:birth-temple in the first See also:court, there were smaller temples or shrines of Arsenuphis, Mandulis, Imuthes, See also:Hathor, Harendotes (a See also:form of Horns) and See also:Augustus (in the Roman See also:style), besides unnamed ones. There were also monumental gateways, and the island was protected by a See also:stone See also:quay all See also:round with the necessary staircases, &c., and a Nilometer. The most beautiful of all the buildings is an unfinished kiosque inscribed by See also:Trajan, well known under the name of " See also:Pharaoh's See also:Bed." Graffiti of pilgrims to the See also:shrine of Isis are dated as See also:late as the end of the 5th See also:century A.D. The See also:decree of See also:Theodosius (A.D. 378) which suppressed See also:pagan See also:worship in the See also:empire was of little effect in the extreme south. In A.D. 453 Maximinus, the See also:general of the See also:emperor See also:Marcian, after inflicting a severe defeat on the Nobatae and Blemmyes who were settled in Lower Nubia, and thence raided Upper Egypt, made See also:peace on terms which included permission for these See also:heathen tribes to visit the temple and even to See also:borrow the See also:image of Isis on certain occasions. It was not till the reign of Justinian, A.D. 527-565, that the temple of Philae was finally closed, and the idols taken to See also:Constantinople.

Remains of See also:

Christian churches were disclosed by the thorough exploration carried out in 1895-1896 in view of the Barrage See also:scheme, under the direction of See also:Captain See also:Lyons. The accumulations of rubbish on the island were cleared away and the walls and See also:foundations of the stone buildings were all repaired and strengthened before the dam was completed. The See also:annual flooding now appears to be actually beneficial to the stonework, by removing the disintegrating salts and incrustations. The tops of most of the buildings and the whole See also:nucleus of the temple of Isis to the See also:floor remained all the See also:year round above the water level until the dam was raised another 26 ft.—a work begun in 19o7—when the temples were entirely submerged except during July-October. But the beauty of the island and its ruins and See also:palm trees, the joy of travellers and artists, is almost gone. See H. G. Lyons, A See also:Report on the Island and Temples of Philae (See also:Cairo, 1896), with numerous plans and photographs; a seco,:d report, A Report on the Temples of Philae (1908), deals with the See also:condition of the ruins as affected by the immersions occasioned by the filling of the Assuan dam; See also:Baedeker's Egypt; and on the effects of the submersion, &c., reports in Annales du service See also:des antiquites, vols. iv. v. (F. LL.

End of Article: PHILAE

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