The temple of Isis at Philae is most likely the last site of traditional worship within Egypt. Long into the Christian era, this small temple on an island a bit south of Aswan remained quietly in use. It was first dedicated as a temple very late in the New Kingdom, during the 26th Dynasty, and most of the existing structures date from the Greco-Roman period of the Ptolemies and later. One of the sections was converted into a coptic church, though it was eventually abandoned. The island of Philae was flooded after the first dam at Aswan was constructed, and by the mid-20th century was only accessible part of the year. The High Dam would have completed submerged the temple, and it was decided to move the structures to the nearby, higher island of Agilika, which was slightly reshaped to met the need. The waters of the Nile and tidal pressures removed any remaining paintings and smoothed some of the carving, but the tops of the columns remain largely intact.
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Go to Egypt Photo Database Page