Philae .. The island of Bigeh .. Part ( 12 )

Immediately to the west of Philae lies the larger island of Bigeh, which, though usually made use of only as a viewpoint from which to see Philae, has remains which are themselves worthy of attention, and which prove the larger island to have had a much more ancient history than its more famous neighbour .

A staircase leads up from the ancient quay, and brings us to the remains of the temple of the island, of which only scanty fragments survive . There is a doorway, an open court, and a pronaos, which has columns with elaborate floral capitals . These columns are united by screen-walls, which show Ptolemy XI, Alexander II, before Osiris, Isis and Khnum of Senmet, the local god .

The original temple, however, must have dated much farther back, as statues of Tuthmosis III and Amenophis II existed on the site, of which part of that of Tuthmosis III was extant till within recent days, and that of Amenophis II is still remembered . The site was therefore held sacred in the 18^th Dynasty .

When the theory of the cave on the island which was the source of the Nile came into being we have no evidence to show, where The Greeks called the tomb Abaton ( a sacred grove containing a tomb of Osiris, which was so inaccessible that even birds could not alight on its trees ), according the legend records, part of the water flowing north and the remainder southwards into Nubia ; but the scene on the Hadrian gateway at Philae shows that it was held in Roman days . Bigeh was also apparently the site of one of the tombs of Osiris, which is probably portrayed in another of the reliefs on the passage of the Hadrian gateway, which described before, Which the two inscriptions on the walls of Hadrian's Gateway at Philae describe the ritual and say that fishing, fowling and music were prohibited in the area, and no one except the priests on duty were allowed into the sacred grove, and people in the vicinity were warned to speak in whispers whilst the religious ceremonies were in progress ; but no evidence exists to show what was the date at which this idea grew up .

In early times the priests of Philae claimed that the source of the Nile was bottomless and lay beneath the rocks of Bigeh whence half the river rose to flow north and half to flow south . The priests of Elephantine claimed that the source lay with them, and these rival traditions were kept up for as long as it was possible to maintain them . Certainly the river is over a hundred feet deep in these places and anyone who has sailed in a felucca through the islands, round Elephantine and Siheil, knows how confusing the direction of the flow appears in the swirling eddies which twist and turn in all directions . Everywhere, the rocks in grotesque shapes rise from the water, sometimes resembling elephants which may have given the name Elephantine to the island . The wash of the silt-bearing water had polished the granite to a shining dark grey similar in colour to elephant hide .

At what period the legend grew up that Philae was one of the blessed spots hallowed by the burial of one of the members of the mutilated body of Osiris is not known, where according to legend the left leg of Osiris was buried here after his dead body had been cut up by his brother Seth ; but one such a tradition was mooted the Isis priesthood would make the most of it, and the island became the scene of one of the Osiris passion-plays such as were held at Abydos and elsewhere . Once every ten days and on annual festivals Isis left her temple of Philae and visited the tomb of her husband . The burial place was surrounded by 365 altars on which the priests laid daily offerings of milk . The great shrine of Osiris at Abydos having by this time fallen into decay, its reputation would be all the easier transferred to Philae, and brought crowds of worshippers to the place . Gradually, in accordance with the tendency which was asserting itself throughout the Roman world, Osiris was superseded in favour by his wife, and Isis became the undisputed mistress of Philae, with Horus, who had an ancient connexion with Bigeh, as a secondary god .

In addition to the ruins of its temple, Bigeh has a number of inscriptions, of which several date from the 18^th Dynasty . One, of the vizier Ramose states that this official came to make offerings to all the gods of Senmet, and gives the cartouche of Amenophis III ( Nebmaetre ) . The figure of a man with a staff of office has the same cartouche, and the inscription ' The Viceroy of Kush, Merimes ' .

A third inscription opposite the south end of Philae gives the cartouches of Amenophis III again, with the words : ' The Royal Scribe, the Truth of his Lord, the Commander of the Troops of the Lord of the Two Lands, Amenhotep ', and ' the Superintendent of the Great Palace in Memphis, Amenhotep ', and shows two figures with upraised hands .

Close to this inscription is another which gives the cartouche of Nebmaetre ( Amenophis III ) and the figure, possibly, of the vizier Ramose, from all which we see that in the 18^th Dynasty, and especially in the reign of Amenophis III, considerable interest was taken in Bigeh, or Senmet, as it was then called in the date of the 18^th Dynasty . A later inscription is one which shows a man with crook and staff of office, who is ' The Viceroy of Kush, Huy ', presumably the official who held this position in the reign of Tutankhamun .

Then comes an important inscription of the 19^th Dynasty, stating that Prince Khaemweset, who will be remembered as the favourite son of Ramses II, celebrated the jubilee of his father for the first time in the thirtieth year, for the second time in the thirty-fourth year, and for the third time in the thirty-seventh year . The prince has left space for future celebrations ; but his own death precluded the adding of the dates of these . Among later Pharaohs who figure at Bigeh are Ahmose II, Psammetichus II, and Apries, of the 26^th Dynasty .

Good bye .. See you in another place