Philae Island .. The other buildings .. Part ( 11 )

Hadrian's Gateway

On the west side of the temple near the second Great Pylon, stands a gateway which leads to a sorely ruined vestibule built by the Emperor Hadrian, rising above the quay wall .

On the lintel of the doorway Hadrian is seen stands before Osiris, Isis and Harsiesis ( the child Horus, son of Isis ), while the sides of it are adorned with the wig of Osiris resting on a pole, and the Tet or Dad emblem of Osiris ( also called Djed ), which represents his backbone .

The reliefs on the south wall of the passage leading from the gateway are much damaged and have never been finished . In the top row, Horus is seated between Isis and Nephthys, while Neith and Thoth number his years ; and Osiris, Anubis, Shu, Tefnut, and a goddess playing a harp are shown near by . In the second row, near a small side door, there is a very interest relief . It shows the king bearing a chest on his shoulder, and walking, in company with Thoth and Isis, towards a temple, which has two doorways on its west side . Beyond these doorways is the river, across which Osiris is being carried on the back of a crocodile towards the rocks of Bigeh, the island close at hand ; perhaps the myth of Anas Al-Wogud gained support from this picture . Sun, moon and stars, and amidst the blue sky are Harpocrates and Osiris shine above the river . Other reliefs show Horus slaying a monster, Osiris standing in the sacred tree, and the king worshipping various gods .

On the north wall, there is a relief shows the king offers to Isis and Hathor, Osiris-Sokaris, Isis, Nephthys, and Horus . Lower down, there is another relief shows Isis, Nephthys, Horus, Amun and the cow-headed Hathor worshipping the hawk-god which rises above the reeds of the river at the foot of the rocks of Bigeh . The island has a vulture perching on it, and beneath is a cave surrounded by a serpent and holding the figure of Hapi the Nile-god . This is intended to represent the source of the Nile . Also another relief in the uncompleted vestibule shows Nephthys presenting the Crown of Lower Egypt and Isis the Crown of Upper Egypt to Horus .

On the front of this building is a Demotic inscription in red letters mentions Marcus Aurelius, Antoninus Pius, and Lucius Verus, where we see within the gateway, Marcus Aurelius stands before Osiris, and below offers grapes and flowers to Isis . Just to the north of this gateway there are traces of a temple, of which the platform and a few scattered blocks from the walls alone remain . There are here no traces of gods' names or kings' cartouches by which to name the place ; but formerly some inscriptions were found which showed that it was built by Claudius and was partly dedicated to Harendotes ; while other inscribed blocks built into the Coptic church which stands just to the north also named Claudius as the builder . To the south of Hadrian's gateway is another nilometer, which is now inaccessible . It bears Hieratic, Demotic and Coptic scales .

The Temple of Harendotes and The Temple of Augustus

To the north of Hadrian's gateway is a much-ruined temple, built by the Emperor Claudius, and dedicated to Harendotes, ' Horus-the-Protector-of-his-Father ', one of the many forms of Horus . Farther north still is the ruined temple of Augustus, which was built in the eighteenth year of his reign .

Here was found the trilingual inscription of Cornelius Gallus, now in the Egyptian Museum at Cairo, who was successful, as Prefect of Egypt, in suppressing the revolt of the Egyptians in 29 B.C., but celebrated his victory with such extravagant praise of himself that he was recalled by Augustus ; whereupon he committed suicide .

Beyond this temple, and in alinement with its axis, at the extreme north of the island is the Roman town-gate of Philae, probably the work of Diocletian ( also called Diocletianus ) . It originally consisted of a triple arch, the central arch being higher than the side ones . The arch to the west has still its domical stone vault ; but the corresponding vault on the other side has fallen . The gateway communicates by a stairway with the water .

The Temple of Hathor

Proceeding round the eastern side of the island in a southerly direction, we reach next the temple of Hathor, It stands just east of the Second Pylon of the great temple of Isis, and at present consists of a colonnaded hall and a pronaos, the other chambers being now destroyed and disappeared . The pronaos of this temple was dedicated to Hathor, and built by Ptolemy VI, Philometor, and Ptolemy VII, Neos Philopator ; but the colonnade hall in the front and the lost sanctuary were added and decorated by Augustus . A Greek inscription reading " Hiertia directed a prayer to Aphrodite " proves that the temple was dedicated to Hathor ; though the fact in itself is not so interesting to posterity as it was to Hiertia it shows clearly that the Greeks regarded Hathor merely as another name for their own goddess Aphrodite .

The colonnade hall had six pillars on either side, and screen walls joined them ; but the pillars are now only standing in part . The columns shows some rather dainty reliefs, all speaking of joy and festivity in recognition of Isis and Hathor, who, it will be remembered, was equated with the Greek Aphrodite, and was a goddess of love and joy . Hathor was the goddess of beauty and joy, and these scenes are intended to inspire the worshipper with those feelings of gaiety which were pleasing to the goddess .

Entering the colonnade hall one sees on the south end of the west wall a damaged relief showing the king worshipping Mut and Hathor, and on the opposite side Hathor is again seen .

On the south wall, passing along the lower row from west to east, the following reliefs of the columns and screens are seen : a figure standing by some reeds plays a double reed pipe ; the king offers a festal crown to Isis ; a figure plays upon a harp ; the king offers flowers to Nephthys ; a small figure of the god Bes beats a tambourine or plays on a harp ; the king offers sistra to Sekhmet ; a full-faced figure of Bes plays upon a harp ; the king offers a crown to Hathor ; an ape plays upon a lute ; and the king offers wine to Isis .

On the north wall, a figure plays on a double pipe ; another figure plays on a harp ; a man carries a gazelle decorated with flowers on his shoulder ; the king offers an ape amulet to Satis ; he offers an ornamental sphinx to Tefnut ; a full-faced figure of Bes plays a harp and dances ; an ape plays a lute ; and the king offers wine to Hathor . The festive nature of these scenes will at once be observed .

Other reliefs in the colonnade hall show the king in the presence of Horus, Arsenuphis, and Hathor . A decided and delightful change from the tiresome succession of reliefs, showing the Pharaoh in all the usual attitudes before the usual gods, which are repeated, with hardly a variation, from temple to temple .

There is a doorway on either side of the colonnade hall ; and at the east end a semi-portal decorated with Hathor-heads leads into the pronaos, the roof of which is supported by two pillars with plant capitals . The reliefs in the pronaos are unfinished, but show the king before the usual gods . A doorway led into the farther chambers, but only the pavement of these now remains .

Outside the pronaos are representations of the king, on the north side, the king is seen leaving his palace with the crown of Upper Egypt on his head, and with the four standards before him : the jackal, ibis, hawk, and Theban emblem ; and he burns incense before Unnefer and Isis .

On the south side, the king with the crown of Lower Egypt on his head and with the standards before him, leaves the palace ; and he worships Hathor and Horus, and Khnum and Horus . A doorway on the south side admits to the pronaos, and around it are small figures of the king worshipping some nearly obliterated gods ; while at the foot of each jamb is a lion holding a knife .

Kiosk of Trajan

This progression round Philae has taken a clockwise direction, starting in the south and proceeding up the west side to the northern end, returning down the east side . Still farther south rises the building which is so prominent in every picture of Philae that to most people it stands for the island, and is the picture that is brought to the mind whenever Philae is mentioned . This is the so-called ' kiosk ', sometimes called ' Pharaoh's Bed ' . This structure is a rectangular chamber surrounded by fourteen columns, which have floral capitals . These support tall impost-blocks, which carry the architraves and cavetto cornice . The imposts were probably designed to be carved into sistrum capitals with Hathor heads ; but this was never done, and indeed the building never advanced far towards completion . The screen-walls which rise between the columns were intended to be carved with reliefs ; but only two of them ever reached completion . These show the Emperor Trajan burning incense before Osiris and Isis, and offering wine to Isis and Horus . The kiosk has wide doorways on its east and west sides, and a smaller door to the north . Unfinished though it is, and comparatively speaking undecorated, it is the almost total loss of this little fragment which will hold the largest place in the imagination of all who have loved Philae .

To be continued ....

Part ( 12 ) .. Coming SoOoOon .....

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