9Philae Temples

The island of Philae was the center of the cult of the goddess Isis. The first temple on the island was built by native pharaohs of the 30th dynasty. The temple construction continued over a three century period by the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty and the Roman rulers.

The Roman Emperor Trajan built the Trajan’s Kiosk in 100 AD which probably served as a river entrance into the larger temple of Isis. In the 1960s the temple and other monuments on the island were transported to the island of Agilika by UNESCO to save it from being submerged by the rising waters of the Nile due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The island of Philae is now buried beneath Lake Nasser.

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