Temple of Philae

Wow. That's just about anyone could say when they see the Temple of Philae. Wow.
You can get a sense of how big the temple was by looking at tiny Cameron on the right below the carvings of Isis and Osiris (which are also on the right of the picture on the left). It's even more amazing to consider the entire temple was dismantled and rebuilt in in the 1970s because it was constantly flooded from the Nile. Each block was mapped and recorded and reassembled to within less than 1/4 inch accuracy.

The temple was built to honor the goddess Isis, the greatest of the Egyptian gods, who was worshipped even throughout the Roman empire. Early Christians who arrived built an altar in the temple, added crosses next to the doors and scratched out the faces on many of the carvings, as the later-arriving Muslims.

Osiris, the king of Egypt, and Isis, his queen, was beloved by all his people. But his brother Seth was jealous and plotted against him to take over the throne. One day Osiris held a big banquet for his court. Seth was also invited. This was the moment he had long waited for. He began to describe a wonderful coffin that he had been given. It was indeed beautiful, made of the finest wood and gilded and painted. He promised to give it as a gift to whomever fitted exactly into it. And as he already had acquired Osiris´measures, the king was the only one that fitted into the coffin, and when he was persuaded into taking place in it, Seth´s accomplices quickly nailed the lid to it and while the rest of the court was held back, it was taken away and thrown into the Nile where the current carried it away. Later, Seth and his men were out hunting nearby. When he happened upon the casket, he recognized it, realized his treachery might be found out and feared that Isis would punish him. He broke into it and tore Osiris´ body into several pieces which he spread out all over the land. Only then did he feel safe that Isis would not be able to find them.

For many long, sorrowful years Isis searched the lands. Wherever she found a piece of Osiris´ body, she erected an altar, giving thanks to the gods. When at last all the parts had been assembled, Isis made Osiris into the first mummy. She then proceeded to use her powerful magic and breathed new life into Osiris and so she was able to conceive the child Horus. After this Osiris became in time the King of the Land of the Dead, while Horus fought against his uncle Set and won his father´s throne and became the Living King of Egypt and the first of the pharoahs, all of whom claim to be descended from the gods.

Of course, it looks pretty fantastic at night, too.

The sound and light show was cheezy to be sure but well worth it to see the temple at night. We giggled at the girls leaving behind us who were very insulted at the show--"It was just lights and a recorded soundtrack," they said. "I thought there would be actors. I thought it would be a play." So not everyone is familiar with the concept.

The temple glowed like it was lit from within. We enjoyed watching a couple cats (worshipped in ancient times and still very common today) sitting quietly on wall watching the proceedings.

Ava enjoyed working on her modeling career. Noah tried to wedge himself into a stone chair. If his skinny little bottom couldn't fit in easily, we wondered just who that chair was for!

One of the things that amazed us at every turn was the detailing of the carvings, especially the hieroglyphics. Everywhere you look, stories, inventories, and records are kept using hieroglyphics. Given how time-consuming it would be to write using that alphabet, it's hard to imagine the number of people and hours it would have taken to do the work. The images are carved in bas relief (where the image is raised from the surface) and low relief (where the image is carved into the surface). So much time has passed, so many millions of people have visited (10 million people per year visit Egypt) and yet the images still appear so new in so many instances.