C.G. Fountaine
1862
Temple of Isis, Island of Philae
[Photographic views taken in Egypt and Greece by C. G. Fontaine]

Albumen print
27.1 x 35.0 cm (image)
 
The Royal Collection
RCIN 2081565
 
View of the temple of Isis from the south-east showing, on the left-hand side, the first pylon, with the gate of Ptolemy II Philadelphus next to it, followed by the wall containing the temple courtyard and, towards the back, the second pylon. The structure in the foreground to the right is part of Trajan's kiosk. Nectanebo I (380-362 BC) was responsible for the earliest visible remains of the temple complex on the island but traces of worship of Isis at Philae can be dated back as early as the XXV Dynasty (747-656 BC). Most of the temple, though, was built between the reigns of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285-246 BC) and Diocletian (AD 284-305) while the cult of Isis seems to have survived on the site until at least the 6th century and it was indeed in Philae that the latest surviving hieroglyphic inscription was found. In the 1970s the whole complex was dismantled and relocated to the nearby island of Agilqiyya during a UNESCO project to save a series of ancient monuments from the rising waters of Lake Nasser, following the construction of the Aswan High Dam.
 
Acquired by King Edward VII when Prince of Wales
 
LL/93230