Philae sits on Agilkia Island, six kilometres south of Aswan, in the reservoir between the old Aswan Dam and the new High Dam. The temple complex of Isis is the principal monument on the island. It dates from the late pharaonic period, was completed under the Ptolemies in the third and second centuries BCE, and was the last working pagan temple in the Egyptian world — Christian Coptic worship inside its halls continued from the sixth century, and the temple as a whole was never abandoned. Its present location is not its original location. In 1980 the entire temple was rebuilt on an adjacent island, sixty metres higher, as the final salvage operation of the UNESCO International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia.
The original Philae
The temple was built on Philae Island — a small granite outcrop in the first cataract of the Nile, considered sacred to the goddess Isis from at least the eighth century BCE. The earliest structures on the island date from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty (around 700 BCE); the main Isis temple was begun by Ptolemy II Philadelphus in the third century BCE and completed under his successors. Roman emperors — Augustus, Tiberius, Trajan — added their own contributions, including the small but elegant kiosk that bears Trajan's name.
From the early twentieth century, the construction of the original (1902) and then enlarged (1934) Aswan dams progressively flooded Philae Island. By the 1960s the island was submerged for six months of every year, with only the upper structures emerging above the water during low season. Visitors during those decades approached the temple by rowboat, gliding between submerged columns.
The relocation
The decision to relocate Philae was taken as part of the broader Nubia Campaign of the 1960s, the same operation that lifted Abu Simbel out of the rising Lake Nasser. Philae's salvage was the last and the most technically intricate. The temple was first protected by a coffer-dam (the Salzgitter ring) and the water inside pumped out; the structures were carefully cleaned of mud and surveyed; each architectural element was sawn out, numbered, and lifted; the entire complex — some 40 000 blocks — was reassembled on adjacent Agilkia Island, which was first reshaped to resemble the topography of the original Philae.
The operation ran from 1972 to 1980. The reinauguration was held on 10 March 1980. The total cost was around 30 million US dollars. Today the original Philae Island remains visible to the south, a smaller rock fully submerged below the lake surface; the temple visitor sees Agilkia, which is now indistinguishable in form from what Philae once was.
The temple was never abandoned. Christian worship continued inside its halls for two hundred years after the last pagan rite.
What you see today
The dromos and the kiosk of Nectanebo
The visitor lands by motorboat at the southern jetty and walks up the modern stone steps to the kiosk of Nectanebo I — the oldest standing structure on the rebuilt site, dating from the Thirtieth Dynasty (around 380 BCE). From the kiosk, a long dromos lined with double colonnades leads north to the First Pylon of the Isis temple. The colonnade was added by Augustus and is the most photographed approach in Egyptian temple architecture.
The Isis temple proper
The First Pylon, eighteen metres high, opens into the Great Court. Inside, on the western wall, are the famous reliefs of Ptolemy XII Auletes — Cleopatra's father — making offerings to the deities. Through the Second Pylon, the temple narrows into the inner halls: the hypostyle hall, the antechamber, and the sanctuary itself, where the cult statue of Isis once stood.
A side chapel within the inner temple — the so-called Osiris Chapel — holds the most complete cycle of carved Osiris-resurrection scenes anywhere in Egypt. The chapel is small, easily missed, and worth twenty minutes alone.
The kiosk of Trajan
South-east of the principal temple stands the kiosk of Trajan — a small unfinished hypaethral pavilion with fourteen columns and a frieze of vines, leaves and Trajan's cartouche. Roman emperors continued to invest in the temple long after Egypt became a province; the kiosk is the most graceful surviving Roman architectural gesture in Egypt.
The closing of the temple
Philae was the last Egyptian temple to celebrate the cult of Isis. The Christian closure of the major pagan temples under Theodosius in 380 CE did not extend immediately to Nubia; Philae held out, by special arrangement with the local Blemmye tribes, until 537 CE. In that year the Byzantine emperor Justinian formally closed the temple. The cult statue was taken to Constantinople. The interior was reconsecrated as a Christian church — the rear sanctuary walls still carry Coptic crosses cut into the original pharaonic reliefs. Christian worship continued in the building for another two hundred years.
How to reach the island
From central Aswan: ten minutes by taxi south to the Shellal jetty (signposted "Philae"), then ten to fifteen minutes by motorboat across the reservoir to Agilkia. Boats run continuously through the day and accept group bookings of two or more. The boat fare is separate from the site entry; both are paid at the jetty windows.
Sound & Light evenings
Philae's evening sound-and-light programme is one of the more atmospheric in Egypt. Two shows are given each evening in rotating languages. The visitor boards the boat at dusk and arrives at Agilkia after dark; the temple is illuminated, the narrative is delivered through speakers, and the audience moves between stations within the complex. The whole programme runs around ninety minutes, including the boat transfers. Booked through the visitor centre or local accommodation.
The temple was carried out of the water, raised onto a higher island, and reset stone by stone. It is the most successful piece of heritage engineering of the twentieth century.
Practicalities
- Open 07:00 – 16:00 daily; evening sound & light begins at sunset.
- Boat transfer required; both site entry and boat are paid at the southern Shellal jetty.
- Allow ninety minutes on Agilkia for a regular visit; two hours if including the Osiris Chapel and the kiosk of Trajan thoroughly.
- Carry water and a hat; the granite surfaces of the island reflect heat aggressively in summer.
- Photography is permitted; no flash inside the inner temple halls.
Last on-site visit · December 2025