Temple of Philae - Egyptology - The Nubians

Temple of Philae

Philae Island was a rocky island in the middle of the River Nile, south of Aswan . It was called in Hieroglyphic "Apo" which means Ivory. It was also known by the Greek "Elephantine", most probably because it was an important center of trade, especially for ivory.

The Ancient Egyptians built a beautiful and magnificent Temple on this island for the Goddess Isis, but the Temple became submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in 1906, and it was not until the seventies that many nations attempted to save the Temple. All these countries, together with UNESCO, selected a suitable place, but they had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in 1971, which would stabilize the level of the water around their chosen island.

The new island was called Egilica (also called Agilika), and it was completely reshaped to imitate Philae Island as closely as possible.

Firstly, a coffer dam was built around the Temple and the water was drained. Next, the Temple was dismantled and transferred, stone by stone, from the submerged Philea Island to the redesigned Egilica Island. Each and every stone had to be numbered, and then replaced, in the same position, in the new location. It was a massive, and very complicated, project taking over 9 years to be accomplished.

The Temple of Philae was reopened in 1980!

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Qasr Ibrim - Egyptology - The Nubians

Qasr Ibrim

This area is located 235 KM to the south of Aswan, the, the area is built on high hillock overlooking the Nile opposite Aniba village.

In ancient Egyptian the area was known as PER-MIT,   that became PREMIS during the Greco-Roman times and then Ibrim during the Arabs times

The area is full of monuments that date back to various parts of history, including tombs of the Nubian rulers during the New Kingdom times; they ruled Nubian during Thutmosis III

 The citadel had a very important rule through out the ancient Egyptian history and later. During the Christian area, a church was built in there and was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. This area has yielded so many artefacts that are now in display at Nubian museum.

Here are some pictures of  qasr Ibrim

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Temple of Kalabsha - Egyptology - The Nubians

Temple of Kalabsha

So called after the village of Kalabsha which is located 65 KM south of Aswan dam. The city was known in ancient times with temples, and later in Greek was called Talames.

The temple is back to the roman times and was dedicated to the Nubian god Mandoulis, and dates back to the time of roman emperor Augustus, later other emperor have contributed for the construction, such as kaligula and Trjan

It originally was built on much early site that dates back to the 18th dynasty and most probably goes back to king Thothmosis and Amenhotep II. The temple is considered among the most complete temples in all of of Nubia. 

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Temple of Moharka - Egyptology - The Nubians

Temple of Moharka

Small temple that goes back the end of the Greco-Roman period, it is very simple since it is consisting of one hall with columns decorated with composite capitals.

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Temple of Aniba - Egyptology - The Nubians

Temple of Aniba 

Aniba was regarded as the center of administration in Lower Nubia province of Egypt, in ancient times. In Egyptian language this place was called as Miam, while Lower Nubia was particularly known as Wawat in local language. During the rule of the Pharaoh Ramesses VI, he appointed Penniut as his Deputy for governing Wawat in 1140 B.C. Penniut was also known to be a priest of the local temple of Horus. Hence, his tomb was constructed in the local necropolis of Aniba on 12th century B.C. This rock-cut tomb was shifted to Amada in the 1960s, to save it from the waters of the Aswan High Dam, at the time of its construction. Its original site was located at the hillside of Aniba, that was 40 Km south of this present location. The original capital of Nubia, along with the official residence of Penniut was all destroyed by the flooding waters of the Aswan Dam.

The structural excellence of the Tomb of Aniba

This rock-cut tomb is noted for its simplicity in structure and extensive sculptures and inscriptions, throughout the walls of the tomb. It just contains an unadorned entrance, with the statues of Penniut and his wife in praying postures on the left side of it. This entrance leads to a transverse chamber, which housed three statues on a niche, in its backside wall, all of which are in almost destroyed state now. But the central figure has the head of a cow, which suggests that it might be of Goddess Hathor.

This chamber is 6.5 m wide and 2.8 m deep, which is comparatively much smaller than most of the Egyptian tombs, built in ancient period. The walls of the chamber contain the pictures of Penniut and his family members, offering tributes to the Egyptian gods. There are also the depictions of funerals and the final judgments, as per the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. But unfortunately, a large section of these wall paintings and inscriptions are now missing, as they might have been cut off while shifting to Amada. On the right hand side of the chamber, the scenes on the wall showed the life of this living world; while the depictions on the wall of the left hand side are about the life after the death, including the judgments of the people in the next world.

The inscriptions on the walls of the Tomb of Aniba

The walls of the Tomb of Aniba are more important to the scholars for the inscriptions, which were most likely to be copied from the ancient Egyptian documents, written on papyrus. The main synopsis of one inscription states about a donation made by Penniut for making a statue of the Pharaoh. This particular inscription contains twenty lines and was written on the walls beside the entrance of the tomb, in a rectangular area. There are pictures of gods surrounding the upper part of this inscription, probably to indicate that the gods approved this donation. There are also prayers of offerings for each of these gods, written below their respective pictures. The pictures of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were drawn on the right hand of the inscription, while the images of Ptah and Thoth were sketched on the left side. All three walls of the chamber also contain inscriptions, which described offering methods and prayers to different gods.

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Temple of Dekka - Egyptology - Roman Greco Time

Temple of Dekka

The temple of Dekka is situated in south Egypt, about 100 Km away from the famous Aswan High Dam, which was built to tame River Nile. Initially, it was constructed in Nubia, but in modern time, it had to be shifted to a place named Es-Sebua, that is 40 Km upstream the river and now this temple is placed on a small cliff. The shifting mission of this temple was accomplished from 1962 to 1968, so that the temple could be secured from the flood waters of the Lake Nasser and High Dam. Though now this temple is also famously known to the world as El-Dakka, the local Egyptians call it as Pselqet, while the Greeks refer to it as Pselchis.

The temple was built by the Nubian Agher Amon who ruled at the time of king Ptolemy II, and later additions were added during the Greco-Roman times. The temple is originally goes back to the 18th dynasty, during the time of Thutmosis III, Hatshepsut and Seti I and Merneptah. Like most of the other Nubian monuments it was converted into a church during the Christian era. The temple is decorated with many religion scenes and important relief.

The creator of the Temple of Dekka

There is a dispute about the true maker of this temple among the scholars of present times. Earlier, people thought that it was made by the Nubian king Agher Amon, whose reign was at the time of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, between 282 and 246 B.C. According to the historians of that time, this temple was probably built around 220 B.C., by this Nubian king, whom the Greeks referred to as Ergamenes. The latest additions of the temple were supposedly built by other Egyptian kings of Greco-Roman era.

But now, the present researchers claim that this temple was made much earlier, at the time of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who dedicated the temple to God Horus. Several stone blocks with pictures of Horus are found in this temple site, which confirm this theory. Later on, probably Seti I and Merneptah, the rulers of the 19th dynasty built the newer additions of the temple.

The architectural wonders of the Temple of Dekka

This temple consists of a façade, a pylon, a large courtyard and two sanctuaries, built in two different periods. The uniqueness of this temple is mainly due to its façade, as it is the only façade in Egypt that faces towards the north, instead of the east and it runs in north-south direction that is parallel to the River Nile, flowing down in front of it.

Earlier, there used to be an enclosure wall that is demolished in the course of times. Hence, the pylon or the huge gateway now stands separated from the courtyard, due to the absence of this wall that held the pylon. This pylon is notable due to a sculpture of a solar disk and an uraeus extending its wings, which was actually considered as a sacred serpent, placed above the entrance. A smaller entrance to the southern part of the temple leads the way to a staircase, directing towards many rooms, inside the pylon.

The courtyard leads to the hall or pronaos, which is decorated with the bas-reliefs which show a Ptolemaic King giving offerings to various Egyptian gods.

Among the two sanctuaries of this temple, one was supposedly made by Arkamani, the Nubian king and the initial maker of this temple and the other was said to be included by Augustus. These sanctuaries contain many beautiful reliefs depicting the Nubian king to give offerings to various Egyptian deities, including Goddess Anqet and the lion-headed Goddess Sekhmet, along with Thoth, Isis and Tefnut

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Temple of Derr - Egyptology - The Nubians

Temple of Derr

This area is located 208 KM south of Aswan, the temple was rock cut during the time of derrking Ramses II, it was dedicated to godPetah and god Amon as well as Ramses II as a deified person. The temple walls are decorated with scenes representing Ramses II military campaigns against nubia and scenes of offering to the god of the temple. 

This temple was badly destroyed though out the centuries and many part of it have been reused for other building or was lost

Here are some pictures of the interior senses of the temple

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Temple of Wadi Es-Sebua - Nubian Sites - Egyptology

Temple of Wadi Es-Sebua

The temple of Wadi Es-Sebua is located at a site that is 150 Km south of Aswan Dam, in Egypt. It is known to be the second largest temple of Nubian region, after the famous temple of Abu-Simbel. This temple is named “Es-Sebua”, which means “Lions” and its name is justified due to the presence of the rows of lion-headed sphinxes before the entrance of the temple.

The temple is known with Es-Seboua meaning in Arabic "lions, as it has an avenue of sphinxes at its entrance. The temple was dedicated to the worship of god Ra- Hor-Akhty, Amon, and Ramses II as a defied person.The temple is built out of stones except the sanctuary, and the inner vestibules which hare fully craved into the bed rock. The temple consists of an entrance with a pylon then an open court yard then a hypostyle hall and then inner sanctuary. The walls of the temple are decorated with many religion scenes and important relief, During the Christian area many parts have been converted in to a church. This temple like most of the other Nubian monuments have been rescued and relocated 4 km north from its original location to escape the rising water of Lake Nasser.

History of the Temple of Wadi Es-Sebua

This temple was built by Ramesses II and was dedicated to God Amun and Ra-Horakhty, along with deified Pharaoh Ramesses II himself. Hence, it was then called “House of Amun” and its construction was started in the 44th year of the reign of Ramesses II. The Pharaoh engaged his Libyan prisoners as laborers, to build this temple; whom he captured after the war with the Libyan invaders.

Later on, some parts of this temple complex were acquired by the Christians, who included those areas into a church. Like many other Nubian temples, this temple also had to be shifted to a higher altitude, to save it from the destructive waters of Aswan Dam; which destroyed another temple of the same era that was built by Amenhotep II. But luckily, 5 stelae from this destroyed temple could be saved and now they are kept safely in Aswan Museum.

The unique structural features of the Temple of Wadi Es-Sebua

The maximum structures of this temple were built with stones, except the inner vestibule and the sanctuary, which were carved out of the bedrocks. The whole temple complex comprises of an entrance with a pylon, an open courtyard, a hypostyle hall and the sanctuary. But the most noteworthy feature of this temple is the lines of sphinxes that lead from the entrance to the sanctuary, through the open courtyard. Earlier, a large brick wall used to enclose the total complex, which no more exists; nor survived the brick-made pylon of this temple, that was guarded by two huge statues of Ramesses II.

There are two lines of lion-headed sphinxes leading to the hypostyle hall, which is adorned with the reliefs depicting many religious incidents of those times. There is also a sphinx, with the head of Ramesses II, near the back end of the courtyard, where two more rows of falcon-headed sphinxes are seen, each holding a statuette of Ramesses II between their front legs and an inscription, where the Pharaoh desired for a long life.

A stone-made pylon faced this hall, which depicts the feature of Ramesses II offering to Amun on the southern side and to Ra-Horakhty on the northern side. Though numbers of statues of Ramesses II were made, now only one huge statue stands near this pylon, with a smaller statue of his queen placed by his side. Another statue of Ramesses II is seen to be lying on the sand of the courtyard, holding a standard with the head of a falcon.

The altar lies to the south of this courtyard, which is dedicated to God Ra-Horakhty. There is another hall, called “Hall of appearances”, with twelve Osiride pillars, carved out of bedrocks. Various interesting reliefs of the Pharaoh with all the deities are depicted on the walls here. This hall is followed by another chamber, which was perhaps the chapel, with many pictures on all its walls, showing many religious events and sacred animals for offerings.

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Islamic Sites- Egyptology

Famous Islamic Sites in Egypt

Egypt ismalic travel guide- Guide to all Egyptian Islamic Sightseeing and famous mosues such as hamed ali Mosque, Sultan Hassan Mosque, Ahmed Ben Tulun Mosque, EL Hakim Mosque , EL Azhar Mosque, El Rifiae Mosque, Sabil Katkhuda

Click on the thumbnails below for full articles

• Mosque of Mohamed Ali

• Mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun

• Mosque of Sultan Hassan

• Citadel of Salaadin

• Mosque of Refaie

• Mosque of El Hakim

• ALazhar Mosque

• Khan El-Khalili Bazaar

• Sabil Katkhuda

• The Qaitbay Citadel

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Karanis (Kom Oushim) - Egyptology

El-Fayoum

The province of El-Fayoum is located about 70 Km southwest of from Cairo, easily found on the map because of the large lake (Lake Qaroun), which is close by.

This region is extremely rich in many archaeological sites, such as the old City of El-Fayoum (Crocodopolis). It is in a natural depression in the desert, linked to the River Nile by a branch called "Bahr Yousuf", whose name was probably derived from the ancient Egyptian Word "Baym", which means sea or lake. It contains a lake that was known by the Ancient Egyptians as "Mr-Wr", which means "the great sea", and in Greek it became "Moris". Today, in Arabic, it is called "Qaroun Lake".

The word Baym was most probably the origin of the word El-Fayoum. In Ancient Egypt it was called "shedt" and it was a great city during the Middle Kingdom.

Hawara Pyramid, which is considered to be in one of the most important sites of the province, was the Pyramid of King Amenemhat III who ruled during the Middle Kingdom, but unfortunately nothing is left of his huge and fabulous mortuary Temple, which was called the Labyrinth.

One of the most famous areas in El-Fayoum is Kom Mady (Narmouthis); this is because of the remains of the old Temple, which dates back to the XII Dynasty and was dedicated to the God Sobek, the Goddess Isis, and the Goddess Renen-Wetet. Actually there are several historical and archaeological sites that are scattered in different locations throughout this province such as Kom Oushim (Kranis), Um Al Athl (Bachias), Batn Ahryt (Theadelphia), Philadelphia, Qasr, Qaroun (Dionysius) and others.

Today the Oasis, with its lakes and sanctuaries, pristine desert areas (which includes fossil remains of world importance), various cultural sites, plus the rural quietude, forms an amazing and unique site of adventure, and beautiful scenery.

Karanis (Kom Oushim):

Karanis (Kom Oushim) is situated 30 Km north of the city of El-Fayoum. In old Greek documents this region was called Karanis and it contains 2 Temples in the north and another in the south, both dating back to the Ptolemaic Period, as well as some cisterns, public baths and houses etc. The Kelsey Museum houses more than 45,000 objects from Karanis, but this large figure does not include all of the finds. The University of Michigan, between 1924 and 1935, excavated this Greco-Roman site, dividing the artefacts with The Egyptian Government when the excavations were finished. Next to the two Temples there is a modern museum, which also exhibits some of the finds.

The plan of the 2 Temples is similar to the plan of all the Ancient Egyptian Temples of the New Kingdom with the same elements, the only difference is that the 2 Temples of Karanis contain offering tables (Altars) and burials for the mummies of the crocodile, which was the sacred animal symbolizing the God Sobek. Each Temple consists of a pylon and 3 small halls, then the sanctuary. To the western side, at the front of the Temple, there is an aquarium, which was dedicated to the followers of the crocodiles. They were constructed during the reign of the Emperor Nero, but restored during the reign of the Emperor Commodes. Like the southern Temple the northern one was consecrated for the cult of Sobek but also to other deities such as Amon, Serapes, Zeus, etc.

A dwelling area was discovered in Karanis, the houses built out of mud-bricks, and red bricks, with vaulted roof and stairs, gates, windows, kitchens, and stables. Some walls were painted and covered with colorful decorations.

To the east of the city there is a cemetery, which also dates back to the Ptolemaic Period. Recently a great number of artifacts were found, including: ostracas, jars, glassy vases, and coins, as well as a large number of papyrus, written in Greek, and of great value, which provide us with details about the aspects of life during that period, like trade deals, taxation documents, and civil contracts. Remains of Public Baths, built of burnt brick, were also discovered.

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