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 The building work in the Temple of Isis proper at Philae,
now located on the island of Agilika, is overwhelmingly
Ptolemaic and forms part of the Ptolemaic policy of promoting
the Isis cult throughout the kingdom and beyond. The core of
the Isis temple, everything north of the vestibule, was built
by
Ptolemy II, just behind the ancient shrine of
Amasis, which
was then demolished.
The temple was primarily dedicated to
Isis, who was
worshipped here with her son,
Horus, the Greek Harpocrates.
Osiris’ name is generally written within a cartouche,
with the words indicating "Deceased" thereafter, and
Isis’ name was also written within a cartouche. In this
region they were seen as deified rulers.
 The entrance to the main temple is fronted by the first
Great Pylon. It stands 150 feet broad and 60 feet high,
consisting of two towers and a gate between them. there are
deep grooves for flag poles cut on either side of the
portal. The pylon was begun by
Potlemy II Philadelphus and
essentially finished by
Ptolemy III Euergetes I, though the
decorations were carried out over a much longer period. In
fact, they were never really finished.
The front of the right, or eastern tower is depicted
with a huge figure of
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos who holds a
group of enemies of Egypt by the hair and raises his club to
smite them. This, of course, is a common pose of the pharaoh
dating back to the earliest times in Egyptian history, and
repeated by almost every pharaoh. To the left of him stands
Isis, watching the king, together with the falcon headed
Horus of
Edfu and
Hathor. Above this scene are two
 reliefs.
To the right, Ptolemy XII presents the crown of Upper and
Lower Egypt to Horus and
Nephthys. To the left, he offers
incense to Isis and the
child, Horus.
On the western tower of the Pylon, the pharaoh is seen in
the same stance, slaying his enemies once more while
Isis,
Horus and
Hathor look on. Again there are two reliefs above,
one depicting him in the presence of Unnefer (the name given
to Osiris after his resurrection) and Isis and the other
shows the king before Isis and Hariesis. Unfortunately,
these reliefs were badly damaged by the early Christians.
Along the whole bottom of the first pylon are reliefs of
small Nile figures bringing offerings.
The gateway of the first Pylon predates the structure
itself, having been built by
Nectanebo at the same time that
he built his small temple and vestibule now located at the
beginning of the approach to the main temple. To either side
of the gateway,
Coptic Christian crosses have been carved
into the sandstone, and in the thickness of the doorway
there appear reliefs of Nectanebo in the presence of various
gods, including
Isis. On the right is a French inscription
recording the victory of General Desaix over the
Mamelukes
in 1799.
 Just
beyond the first Pylon is the forecourt of the temple. Here,
on the rear walls of the pylon and gateway are additional
depictions. On the right or western tower
Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos stands before
Osiris,
Isis and other
deities, and below this representation are two sacred boats
that carried the priests in processions.
On the left or eastern tower,
Ptolemy XII stands before
Amun,
Mut and other gods. A small doorway in this pylon
leads to a room with reliefs showing
Ptolemy IX Soter II
before
Isis,
Hathor and
Horus, while his Queen and the
Princess Cleopatra stand before Isis. Over another small
doorway are reliefs of Ptolemy XII accompanied by standards
of the various
nomes. This doorway opens onto a stairway
that leads to the roof from which there is an excellent view
of the island. In the southeast corner of the forecourt near
the pylon stands the earliest work at Philae, the granite
altar of Taharqa, the Nubian king of Napata who also ruled
Egypt.
 In the forecourt itself on the left, or western side,
is the
birth-house, or mammisi, which is similar in plan and
decoration to those of
Dendera and
Edfu. The birth-house is
an essential feature of the temples build during the
Ptolemaic period. The concept of birth-houses may have
originated with the representations in the temples of
Deir
el-Bahri and
Luxor of the divine birth of
Hatshepsut and of
Amenhotep III. These depictions were an important
justification for the divinity of the king, and they grew in
importance with the spread of the
Osiris cult. The
birth-houses, designed to celebrate the rites related to the
Osirian tradition of the child
Horus, reached their full
development during the Ptolemaic period.
 After the murder of his father,
Osiris,
Horus grew to
manhood and overthrew the enemies of his father. Horus, as
Pharaoh of Egypt, became the ancestor of all succeeding
kings. It was therefore essential that each pharaoh on
his accession should be recognized as a true descendant of Horus.
Here, in the sanctuary of the mammisi of
Isis, the
hawk of
Horus is shown wearing the
Double Crown and standing
in a thicket of papyrus. Below that scene, Isis carries the
newly born Horus in her arms, surrounded protectively by the gods
Thoth,
Wadjet,
Nekhbet and
Amun-Ra.
 A colonnade surrounds three sides of the birth-house,
with floral column capitals surmounted by sistrum capitals
with
Hathor heads. The screen walls between the columns
depict
Ptolemy VI,
VIII and
X as well as the Roman
Tiberius
in the presence of various gods.
The right, or eastern side of the forecourt is adorned
with a graceful gallery of columns with floral and palm leaf
capitals that support a cornice, bearing a row of uraeus-serpents.
The inscriptions assign the building of the gallery to
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, but there are carvings on the
walls that depict
Ptolemy XII before the gods. There are six
doorways that lead through the rear wall of the colonnade to
small annex rooms which were used for various purposes such
as storing religious equipment, preparing incense, housing
the sacred books and perhaps the priestly regalia. One of
the chambers is thought to have been a "library" dedicated
to Thoth.
Jus before the second pylon is a small Roman chapel in
the northeast corner, which was built on a natural outcrop
of rock and stands at an angle to the outer entrance.
The northern wall of the forecourt is formed by the
second Great Pylon which stands 105 feet wide and 40 feet
tall. It is set at a different angle than the first
Pylon. An incline plane of shallow steps leads to the
gateway between the towers.
On the left, or western tower,
Ptolemy XII offers incense
and dedicates sacrificial animals to
Horus,
Hathor and other
gods. Above this are two small reliefs, horribly mutilated,
depicting this king presenting a wreath to Horus and
Nephthys and offering incense and pouring water on
 an altar
in the presence of
Osiris,
Isis and Horus.
On the right, or eastern tower, there are similar scenes
but in a much better state of preservation.
At the base of the eastern tower, part of the granite
foundation of the original island protruded and this was
carved into a stele on which
Ptolemy VI Philometor, and his
queen Cleopatra II stand before
Isis and
Horus. This stela
was faithfully transferred to the new island with the rest
of the temple. An inscription refers to the grant of the
Dodekaschoinoi made to Isis, which brought the priests of
Philae into parity with those of
Elephantine. Dodekaschoinoi
is a Greek
 word for "twelve schoinoi" A schoinos equaled
about seven miles. It is not a measurement of area, but
rather length, so presumably this meant that their
foundation estate to finance the temple extended for about
seven miles along the
Nile
River, including the arable land.
Both of the towers of the Second Pylon have grooves for
flagstaffs like the first pylon. The doorway between the
towers depicts
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, greatly defaced,
before a series of equally defaced gods. On the east side of
the doorway is an inscription to the Christian Bishop
Theodorus.
From here, the second pylon doorway leads into the inner part of
the Temple and the main finally to the main sanctuary.
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See Also
Resources:
- The Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt ed.
By Katherine Bard
- Island of Isis, Philae, Temple of the Nile by William
MacQuitty
- A Guide to the Antiquities of Ancient Egypt by Arthur
Weigall
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
- Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt by Richard Wilkinson
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