Philae: The island where the last hieroglyphs were carved, and Ancient Egypt died a slow death

You have to be a shrewd negotiator to make your way to the island of Philae. Even those trained in the toughest tactics can find themselves at a loss when faced with the indifferent attitudes of the boat drivers on the shore. 

You see, they hold all the cards. It’s not like you’re striking a deal in a high-hassle market for a piece of plastic that looks like a slightly deformed version of the mask of Tutankhamen — you can’t just walk away and have a vendor chase after you. 

You’re held hostage. There’s only one way to Philae from where you are, and the boat guys know it. Want to pit them against each other? Not gonna work. They know the game. You pay their price, or slink back to your waiting cab. 

Is it worth it?  Yeah. You’d better believe it. 

Philae Preservation & Doll Clothes

Philae is home to a number of ancient structures — foremost among them is the Temple of Isis. You might be wondering why it’s so well preserved, or if it’s in as good of shape on the inside as the out. The answer to both questions is “Yes.” Well, not the first one. That wouldn’t make sense.

Why is it in such exceptional condition? Well, there’s a number of reasons. The first is because it was constructed very late in the history of Ancient Egypt. It was built during Ptolemaic rule, meaning those in charge after Alexander the Great conquered the land. This temple was probably finished around 221 BCE (Only in Egypt is that year considered late).

What went on here? Oh, you know: Typical Egyptian temple stuff. Lots of cool rituals. Priests with their heads and bodies fully shaved. A golden statue of Isis, way back in the sanctuary. Priests cleaning the statue, anointing it with oil, putting little doll clothes on it. The statue being placed in a barque (like a boat), carried down to the shore, put in an actual boat, paraded around and taken to visit other temples and other gods — like a nearby one that was home to Isis’ dismembered husband, the god of the afterlife: Osiris.

Here’s what the Greek historian Herodotus had to say about the lives of priests in Ancient Egypt:

“The priests shave themselves all over their body every other day, so that no lice or any other foul thing may come to be upon them when they minister to the gods; and the priests wear garments of linen only and sandals of papyrus, and any other garment they may not take nor other sandals; these wash themselves in cold water twice in a day and twice again in the night; and other religious services they perform (one may almost say) of infinite number.”

Like I said: Typical Egyptian temple stuff.

Romans & Friends

Eventually, Rome came in and whipped the last of the Ptolemies — someone you might have heard of, a woman named Cleopatra. Now, it’s important to keep in mind how long the religion of Ancient Egypt had persisted — arguably for over THREE THOUSAND YEARS. It’s wild when you sit back and think about how long those guys were around.

Things had changed a bit under the Ptolemies, especially up north around Alexandria, the city founded by Alexander the Great. Because obviously when you conquer a culture, the first thing you do is build a city and name it after yourself.

And things would change under the Romans, too. But remember, we’re down south. Way down south. Pretty far away from the Greek influence the Romans stole and tossed around like candy. Or sometimes like a whip. That doesn’t make for a good analogy though.

Nevertheless, Rome put up some new structures here. The Emperor Hadrian built a gate, Trajan built a giant kiosk, which I believe is where the barque carrying the statue of Isis would set off from. It’s unfinished, but does look really cool. Does it look like a Roman building? Absolutely not. It looks Egyptian. In fact, Isis herself started sneaking north. There was a temple to her in Pompeii. And one in Rome itself, for that matter — right behind the Pantheon.

Keep in mind, although Egyptians didn’t have the same rights in the empire as others, some Romans thought Egypt was pretty awesome. Hadrian came through, checking it out and partying and having a grand old time. Well, until his young boyfriend drowned in the Nile. Then Hadrian was super depressed and turned him into a god. But that’s a whole other story, and I’m trying to stay on track here…

Anyway, time passed, and things slowed down. People didn’t show up as often as they used to. The Nubians were still visiting from down south, but a lot of them were just really hardcore into the religion. Maybe the people to the north of Philae found some shiny new Roman toys and kind of lost interest, like the guy in the meme who’s pulling away from his girlfriend to check out Jupiter from behind.

No, that’s not really what happened. Well, maybe. Kind of.

Eventually some other dudes start showing up. They’re really into this guy named Jesus. They hang out on the island too, and everyone gets along, more or less. Depending on who you talk to.

Turn Out the Lights, the Hieroglyphs Are Over

Things have gotten really slow in the Isis business. She’s just hanging on by a thread, like the last Blockbuster. Rome shuts down all the pagan temples in 392 CE, but Philae is now just outside the border. A few priests are still around. One of them carves an image of the Egyptian/Nubian god Mandulis on a wall, along with what are believed to be the final Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Oddly enough, part of the inscription says he’s writing them “for all time and eternity.” Which was simultaneously way wrong and really right.

A handful still kept practicing the religion of Ancient Egypt here, though none were left who could read hieroglyphs. The DJ had packed up his turntables and headed home. The party that had persevered for millennia was essentially over. Only a few endured, shaking their cans upside down, their tongues spread out for the last drops of beer. Some dude over in the corner was sifting through the ashtray, trying to smoke the butts.

In 537 CE, the Emperor Justinian ordered all pagan temples closed. He pulled the plug and the disco ball stopped spinning. It was all over.

The Christians took over the Temple of Isis, turning it into a church. They scratched the faces off of the old gods on the walls, carved crosses, and put up an altar.

But as is often the way with such things, those who defaced these pieces of the past were also partially responsible for saving it. This building isn’t the only one in Egypt that survived in relatively good condition because it was claimed by Christians.

Philae’s Painted Progress

Ultimately, what did the most damage here was the modern world. Well, that and the British — depending on how you want to look at it. They dammed up the Nile nearby in 1902, and the island began to flood regularly. Much of the brightly colored paint that still remained got washed away.

Eventually, the UN came in and saved everything. The Temple of Isis and all the other structures were picked up, brick by brick, and moved to another island. The job took years, and wasn’t finished until 1980.

It’s similar to what happened with the Ancient Egyptian temples of Abu Simbel farther south, which were also dismantled and moved to higher ground. Supposedly at Philae, there was some “terraforming” to the higher island, to make it look as the original once did.

So that’s where we go today. The Temple of Isis sits in a new home, not far from its old one. We head up to a group of dismissive boat drivers, toss numbers back and forth, argue about how not everyone needs a separate boat, and make our way to the island. It may not look exactly like it did a couple of thousand years ago, but it’s pretty close.

But if you’re going to visit, make sure you’re ready to pay the boat drivers. They know what a special place this is, and they only take cash.