Date

Circa 1910

View dates before High Aswan dam and removal of site (1972-1980). The worship of Isis was probably brought to Philae from the Delta during the 26th Dynasty. By Ptolemaic times the island was the most important place of pilgrimage of the cult of Isis (who, according to the temple myths, brought her husband Osiris back to life, symbolizing the regeneration of the natural cycle). Hundreds of reliefs and hieroglyphic inscriptions in the Temple of Isis provide details of the theological background, and many Greek, demotic and Meroitic graffiti throw light on the daily happenings at this centre of pilgrimage. The cult of Isis in Philae persisted even after the suppression of pagan cults (ca. 391 CE). The Temple of Isis was largely decorated under Ptolemy II Philadelphos (reigned 285-246 BCE).