Just a little below the Aswan High Dam, and a little above the Aswan Low Dam stand the Temple complex of Philae, The pronunciation is similar to filet, hence the McDonald’s joke.
Editor: Thanks for telling us it is a joke, because I sure didn’t get it. Writer: Well, humor is always better when you have to explain the joke. Editor: I don’t think you understand good humor.
It was moved from Philae island 62 miles away from Aswan back when the High dam was being built to the island of Agilkia. It’s a dramatic setting, with smaller islands dotting the area around it, and the Low Dam within view. Before being moved, the ruins would be submerged by Nile flooding for six months of the year.
The oldest temple in the complex was started around 380 BC, so it’s not that old (irony alert). The rest of complex dates from the Ptolematic Kingdom. Much of the work is dedicated to Ammon-Osiris (we have very nice neighbors named the Ammons – I wonder if they are related!). (Also a test to see if they read the blog!)
From the itinerary:
“We visit the Hall of Nectanebo, the oldest part of the complex, along with the Outer Temple Court, the Temple of Isis, and the beautiful Osiris Chambers, decorated with bas reliefs of Isis, her sons, and other deities.”
Philae is one of the more impressive temples we’ve seen thus far. We also found the difference between a Lake Nasser cruise and a Nile River cruise – the number of people at a historical site is significantly higher than at the temples next to Lake Nasser. Makes me doubly glad we used Odyssey – not only has the trip been problem free, but not many travel companies include a Lake Nasser cruise as part of their itinerary.
Interesting thing about the boat, an Egyptian water taxi, that we took to get to Agilkia island is that there are two seating sections to the boat. A smaller section upfront, and a larger section separated by a very low wooden wall, in back. Mark from Buffalo, who has become a fast friend, noticed in Aswan that the front is for women and children, and the back is for men. When exiting the water taxi, the men get off first and then the women and children. Sigh.
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