We checked into our hotel (complete with balcony and swimming pool, yay!) and had some free time to look around until half one when we were supposed to be heading off to see the temple at Philae, which is located on an island. Shelly and I went off to do some housekeeping matters (changing money, buying insect repellent, etc) and returned to the hotel at 13:30 by Shelly’s watch – unfortunately it was slow and we were nearly half an hour late! The bus had already left and Sam had just come back to ring our rooms when we walked into the lobby. “Where have you been?” he asked anxiously. “I came back to get you. Come on, the bus is down the street.”. We ran to catch the bus and got on with flushed faces. I was so embarrassed – I absolutely hate being late and it was even worse since so many people were depending on us to be on time. On the way to the temple we checked out the engineering wonder that is Lake Nasser – not a highlight touristically, but a strategically important dam for Egypt. Then onto a small felucca to bring us to the temple.
Philae was the first temple we saw, and although it isn’t even nearly one of the biggest or most impressive, I think it was my favourite out of all of them. Perhaps that is because it was the first and therefore before I began to suffer “Temple Fatigue”, but also because generally I tend to like smaller, simpler things rather than opulent, enormous things. Somehow the more impressive temples overwhelm me – they are so awesome my brain can’t take in how fabulous they are. The temple at Philae is dedicated to the goddess Isis, goddess of beauty, magic and healing. Isis is one third of the most famous triad in Egyptian mythology – Isis, Osiris and Horus. Sam told us the story:
Back in the day there were four siblings – Isis, Osiris (god of the afterlife), Neftis (goddess music and entertainment, or maybe birth? I don't remember) and Set (god of evil). Isis was the most beautiful sister and married Osiris (marrying your siblings, parents and such was allowable in those days, and even desirable for kings in order to keep the royal blood “pure”). Set married Neftis (poor girl), but was annoyed because Osiris got to marry the more beautiful sister, and also because the people loved Osiris more than him. This was because Osiris was generous and kind, and Set was evil and greedy. So Set hatched a nasty plan to kill his brother. He threw a huge party and announced that one lucky person was going to receive a great gift of a sarcophagus for the afterlife. The gift was for the person that fit in the sarcophagus (Cinderella style). Set was clever and had made the sarcophagus with Osiris’s measurements, so no matter who tried to enter the sarcophagus none of them fit. Finally Osiris tried and he fitted inside perfectly. Before he had a chance to climb out, Set closed the top of the sarcophagus and threw it in the Nile. The sarcophagus floated on the Nile with Osiris inside until finally it washed ashore onto the gardens of the King of Lebanon.
Isis was too good a wife to give up on Osiris just yet, so she flew up and down the continent looking for him, but she couldn’t find him anywhere. She enlisted the help of the goddess Haithur (the oxen-headed god) to help out. Haithur and Isis together eventually found Osiris, but they were afraid to try and smuggle Osiris out of the gardens in case they were caught by the King. But Isis knew that the Prince of Lebanon, the King’s son, was very sick. She went to the King and told him she could heal his son if he would give her Osiris. The King agreed, Isis healed the prince, and she found Osiris in the garden. He was dead but she gave him the kiss of life and then brought him back to Egypt where they tried to live happily ever after. This didn’t last long as Set was still jealous of Osiris and wouldn’t give up trying to kill him. Set got a sword, killed Osiris again, and this time cut him up into fourteen pieces and scattered them all over Egypt. The most important piece (the “babymaker”, according to Sam), Set cut in half and threw in the Nile. Isis was very determined though, and flew all around collecting the pieces and putting poor Osiris back together. But no matter how hard she looked she could not find the last piece – the babymaker was missing. So she made one out of wax and stuck it to his body, and so they were able to have a son, Horus, (protector of kingship). Haithur raised Horus until he was a man and old enough to take on Set and get revenge for his father. But that part of the story comes later!
There are beautiful carvings of the triad all over the temple, and inside there is a chapel with an altar for offerings to Isis. There used to be a statue of Isis behind the altar apparently, but it is now gone. I wanted to know how you can tell the temple is dedicated to Isis when there are pictures of many gods on the walls. Sam pointed out the carvings on the façade – although Isis, Osiris and Horus are all pictured, Isis is the one handing the sceptre (symbolising power) to the king.
The temple was absolutely beautiful and peaceful. There were not many people there besides us and the twilight gave it an especially serene quality. Towards the end of our visit I even managed to find a quiet spot in the temple with nobody else around. I tried to imagine what it might have been like for the people of ancient Egypt to come here and try to communicate with Isis, or for the priests to go inside and perform the rituals and the offerings. We had a short time to look around, and then back to Aswan for dinner.
While in Cairo they are used to tourists and most places are pretty clean, outside Cairo you eat where Sam says and avoid digestive upsets. So that night we went to a pizza joint in Aswan that overlooked a square with a fountain not entirely unlike Piazza Navona in Rome. I was intrigued by the mention of “Egyptian style” pizza on the menu – what on earth could that be? I asked Sam but he just smiled and said, “order it and see”. It turned out to be a pizza encased, calzone style, in turkish-style flat bread. Very delicious.
That night was Sam’s birthday, the first he had ever spent on tour, so we had to spoil him. We went to a cool, bohemian style coffee shop to drink “Egyptian Tequila”s (a half-solid, coconut based drink served hot) and have some fun. Rami had organised cake and sparklers in Sam’s honour, and there was a DJ playing what I thought was great dancing music – unfortunately nobody else seemed in the mood to dance and it was a while before anyone had a bit of a boogie (thank god for Stella). We had a good time and it was a short walk in the balmy night back to the hotel.
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