Philae, Philae Island
The Egyptian island of Philae was the center for worship of the goddess Isis and attracted pilgrims from all over the ancient world.
The original island is now completely submerged under the waters of Lake Nasser. But in a spectacular rescue operation, the great temples and monuments of Philae were pulled out of the water and re-erected on a nearby island, now renamed Philae.
For over 50 years the Island of Philae and its monuments lay half-submerged in water built up by the Aswan Dam and barrages during annual inundations, until the UNESCO rescue operations for the Nubian monuments in the 1960s. The temples have now been completely dismantled and rebuilt to the original orientation on the nearby island of Agilika which rises higher from the water and has been reshaped and landscaped to resemble the original Philae. Metal pylons on the old island of Philae can still be seen rising from the water to the south of Agilika.
