View of the temple of Isis on the Island of Philae with, on the right, the first east colonnade and, in middle ground, the imposing first pylon, through which the second pylon is also partially visible. On the foreground are debris and remains of later mudbrick structures. 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.
