The Ancient Egypt: Philae Island .. The Forecourt of the Temple of Isis and The Second Pylon .. Part ( 8 )

The east side of the Forecourt of the temple of Isis

The east side of the forecourt between the two pylons is formed by a colonnade with graceful ten columns in a floral and palm-leaf capital which support a cavetto cornice, bearing a row of uraeus-serpents, from the back of which six doorways lead .

The reliefs on this wall from south to north show King Neos Dionysos before Thoth ; slaying a form of Seth before Horus of Edfu ; offering to Unnefer and Isis ; burning incense before six standards the jackals, the ibis, the hawk, the Theban emblem, and the disk and feathers ; dragging a sleigh on which is the boat of Sokaris ( a figure who appears to be a variant of Osiris ) in the presence of Sokaris and Isis ; worshipping Isis ; kneeling before Hathor ; and worshipping Osiris and Isis . Lower down, the king is seen before Isis, Unnefer, Horus, Neith, while along the bottom of the wall is a procession of the nomes . On the columns, the king is shown in the presence of the same gods as usual .

The inscription on the architrave states that Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II, built the colonnade, and it is thus seen that Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysos, only added the reliefs .

The southernmost of the six doorways leads through a chamber onto the terrace . There is also a stairway here leading to the roof . On the doorway are long inscriptions giving the receipt for making the temple incense, and it is to be presumed that this was the room in which it was made .

The second and third doorways admit one to uninscribed chambers . The fourth doorway leads into a small chamber, upon the walls of which are the four following reliefs in large size - a cow-headed goddess offers two vases to Unnefer, Isis, and Horus ; the Pharaoh ( Augustus ? ) makes offering to Isis ; Maet offers a paint-box and brushes to Thoth, Tefnut, and Safkhet ( or Seshat ) ; and the Pharaoh offers to Ptah . There is a niche in the north wall over which is a figure of an ibis, and under it a figure of an ape writing upon a palette . This room, as one sees from the inscription outside the doorway, was the chamber in which the sacred books were kept, and it was probably actually in this niche that they lay . The wooden door-pivot at the entrance is noteworthy .

The fifth and largest door leads through a vestibule and a second doorway to the terrace outside . On the east side of the doorway, Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysos, is seen worshipping the two trinities—Khnum, Hathor, and Horus ; and Osiris, Isis, and Horus ; and other gods . On the second doorway leading from this vestibule to the terrace, Tiberius is seen with his queen, whose cartouche is blank, before Osiris, Isis, and Horus, and other deities . Coptic crosses have been cut on the east side of the doorway .

The sixth doorway leads to the north. Above it on the inside, the king is seen worshipping Osiris and Isis, and below is a lion . On the right side of the doorway, as one passes through, the king is seen slaying a captive before Horus . At the sides of the doorway are inscriptions addressed to the mythical Keeper of the Portal .

The granite altar of Taharqa

Here, In the south-east corner of the forecourt, standing the oldest erection of any kind at present existing on the island of Philae, the granite altar of Taharqa, the penultimate Ethiopian Pharaoh Napata in the Kingdom of Kush, known as the Kushite period ( 25th Dynasty, around 670 B.C. ), and it is considerably older than the next structure, which is the temple of Nectanebos . The altar was dedicated to Amen-Ra and was built by the King Taharqa .

The Second Pylon

The rear ( or northern ) wall of the forecourt is formed by the second pylon ( back pylon or second pylon ), which is 105 feet broad, and 40 feet high, which is set at a different angle to the first Pylon . The doorway between the towers is approached by an inclined plane with shallow steps, and is adorned with reliefs of the usual kind, showing Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II, in much-battered condition before a much-battered series of gods . The towers on either hand show Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysos offering incense and dedicating sacrificial animals to Horus, Hathor and other gods . Both towers , like the first Pylon, have grooves for flag-staffs . The doorway between the towers shows Ptolemy VIII, Euergetes II, greatly defaced before an equally defaced series of gods .

The east side of the second or smaller pylon, which is built over this natural rock, has on it a large relief showing King Ptolemy XII, Neos Dionysos, worshipping Horus and Hathor ; and above this, he is shown in smaller size offering to Horus and Isis ; and to Osiris, Isis, and Horus . Below, are figures of the king and the Nile-gods offering to Unnefer, Nephthys, and Horus .

On the west side of the pylon, the king is shown in large size before Unnefer and Isis, and in smaller size before Horus and Isis, and Unnefer, Isis, and Horus . Lower down, the king is seen at the head of a procession of Nile-figures, making offering to Unnefer, Isis, and Horus . The five standards of the jackal, ibis, hawk, Theban emblem, and feathers and disk are shown near the king .

These scenes are interrupted by the doorway which joins the Birth-House to the pylon . A flight of steps leads up to the main doorway between the pylons .

Protruding from the east side of the smaller pylon there is a large block of the natural granite, which has been trimmed down and has had reliefs and inscriptions cut upon it in the manner of a stele . In front of it a small chapel, now almost totally lost, was erected by one of the emperors . The reliefs on the stele show Ptolemy VI, Philometor, and his queen standing before Isis and Horus, and Osiris and Isis, while Horus in another form stands near . The inscription, dated in the twenty-fourth year, refers to the presenting to Isis of the country from the island of Takompso at Nubia ( or Derar ) to Aswan at Egypt, making twelve schoinoi on the east bank, and twelve schoinoi on the west bank .