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In early times the gods of the Cataract were the gods of Philæ, i.e., Khnemu and Satet, Khnemu-Ra, and Hathor, Anuqet, Ptah and Sekhet, etc.; but in Greek and Roman times the deities chiefly worshipped in the island were Isis and Osiris, and the gods who were in their train, i.e., Horus, Nephthys, etc. In connection with the worship of Isis and Osiris a number of ceremonies were performed, in which the death and mutilation of the body of Osiris, the gathering together of his scattered limbs, the reconstruction of the body by Isis, and its revivification by means of the words of power which Thoth had taught her, formed very prominent scenes. Together with such ceremonies, a number of others connected with the worship of Osiris as the god of life and fecundity were also celebrated at Philæ, something after the manner of a miracle play, and there is no doubt that great crowds would be drawn to the spot by such performances. Primarily, such ceremonies would most appeal to the Egyptians, who, seeing that the great, and probably original, shrine of Osiris at Abydos had fallen into decay, endeavoured to make Philæ its successor; but in Ptolemaic times and later the Greeks and Romans flocked to the spot, the former to worship Osiris, and the latter to worship Isis.

The form of Osiris which the Greeks revered was Sarapis, ie., Asȧr-Ḥāpi, "Osiris-Apis," to whom they ascribed all the attributes of the Greek god Hades. The Egyptian priests, of course, approved of the introduction of the god into the national collection of gods as long as it could be effected by identifying him with an ancient god of the country, and thus the Egyptian and Greek priests found a deity which could satisfy the religious aspirations of both peoples. The introduction of the god was made in the reign of Ptolemy Soter; but in a few generations the attributes of Hades were forgotten, and the worship of Sarapis became identical with that of Osiris.

This having been brought about, and Phile being recognized as one of the most holy shrines of the god, the palmy days of the island began, and so long as the Ptolemies could keep the tribes quiet on the south and west of Egypt, all went well, and the shrine became very rich. In B.C. 22 Candace seized Philæ, Aswân, and Elephantine, but her army was defeated by the Romans, her country laid waste, and her capital Napata destroyed. In the reign of Diocletian the Blemmyes invaded the neighbourhood so frequently that this Emperor was obliged to come to terms with them, and he paid them an annual subsidy on the understanding that they allowed no inroads upon Egypt from the south.

Meanwhile Christianity had spread into Egypt, and was making its way into Nubia, but the worship of Osiris and Isis was continued at Philæ, apparently without much interruption. In A.D. 380 Theodosius the Great issued the edict for establishing the worship of the Trinity, and a year later he prohibited the human sacrifices, and ordered some of the temples to be turned into Christian churches, and the rest to be closed; but in spite of everything, sacrifices were offered at Philæ, and the worship of Osiris was carried on there, just as was the worship of the gods of Greece and Rome in Italy and elsewhere, until the reign of Justinian, who ascended the throne. in 527. Partly as the result of his hatred of pagans, and partly with the view of inflicting a blow upon the Nubian tribes who worshipped at Philæ, Justinian sent a general called Narses to break up the cult of Isis and Osiris of Philæ, and to destroy the temple. Narses obeyed his master's orders to the letter, for he cast the priests into prison, destroyed certain portions of the temples and many of their statues, and carried back to Europe the figures of Isis and Osiris which he found in the shrines, and which were made presumably of gold and silver. In Christian times the Copts built at Phile one church in honour of Saint

Michael and another in honour of Saint Athanasius, and recent excavations have shown that many small churches were built there. Abû Saliḥ says that there are "many idols and temples" on the island, and that on the west bank of the river there were several churches overlooking the cataract, but adds that they were in ruins in his day.

When Strabo visited Phile he says that he came from Syene (Aswân) in a waggon, through a very flat country. "Along the whole road on each side we could see, in many places, very high rocks, round, very smooth, and nearly spherical, of hard black stone, of which mortars are made; each rested upon a greater stone, and upon this another; they were like unhewn stones, with heads of Mercury upon them. Sometimes these stones consisted of one mass. The largest was not less than 12 feet in diameter, and all of them exceeded this size by one-half. We crossed over to the island in a pakton, which is a small boat made of rods, whence it resembles woven-work. Standing there in the water (at the bottom of the boat), or sitting upon some little planks, we easily crossed over, with some alarm, indeed, but without good cause for it, as there is no danger if the boat is not overturned." Of Philæ itself he says: "A little above the cataract is Philæ, a common settlement, like Elephantina, of Ethiopians and Egyptians, and equal in size, containing Egyptian temples, where a bird, which they call hierax (the hawk), is worshipped; but it did not appear to me to resemble in the least the hawks of our country nor of Egypt, for it was larger, and very different in the marks of its plumage. They said that the bird was Ethiopian, and is brought from Ethiopia when its predecessor dies, or before its death. The one shown to us when we were there was sick and nearly dead."-(Strabo, xvii., 1-49, Falconer's translation.)

In 1893 in order to obtain an accurate idea of the stability of the temples, etc., Sir W. Garstin, K.C.M.G., caused an

exhaustive examination of the island to be made by Captain H. G. Lyons, R. E., whose labours prove that, contrary to the general practice of the ancient Egyptian architects, the foundations of all the main buildings go down to the bedrock, and that consequently there is nearly as great a depth of masonry below the ground as there is above it. In the course of his excavations Captain Lyons discovered a trilingual inscription in hieroglyphics, Greek, and Latin, recording the suppression of a revolt mentioned in Strabo (xvii., i, § 53) by Cornelius Gallus, the first prefect of the country in the reign of Augustus Cæsar. The principal buildings on the island are:

1. The Temple of Nectanebus II., the last native king of Egypt, which was dedicated to Isis, the lady of Philæ; it contained 14 columns with double capitals, but few of them now remain. The columns were joined by stone walls, on which were reliefs, in which Nectanebus is depicted making offerings to the gods of Phila. The southern part of the temple either fell into the river, or was removed when the quay wall was built across the south end of the island, cutting off the remainder of the court, and leaving only the front portion to mark the place of the original temple. The present building rests on a course of blocks which formed part of an earlier wall, and the cartouches prove that it was repaired by Ptolemy II. Philadelphus.

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2. The Temple of Ari-ḥes-nefer, Åri-hes-nefer was the son of Rã and Bast, and this temple was dedicated to him by Ptolemy IV.; it was restored or repaired by Ptolemy V., the Nubian king Ergamenes, and the Emperor Tiberius, all of whom are represented in the reliefs on the walls. The present building stands upon the site of an older temple, and part of it was turned into a church by the Copts; a number of the stone blocks from

its walls were used in the building of some Coptic houses which stood near.

3. The Temple of I-em-hetep, which was finished in the reign of Ptolemy V. Epiphanes. In later times, when the east colonnade was built against it, a forecourt was added, with a narrow chamber on the east side of it; and in still later times the Copts lived in some portions of it.

4. The Temple of Hathor, which was dedicated to this goddess by Ptolemy VII. Philometor, and Ptolemy IX. Euergetes II. The forecourt was added in Roman times, and it contained columns with Hathor-headed capitals. The Copts destroyed the forecourt and built a church of the stones of which it was made. On the south side are the ruins of houses which were built before the temple was destroyed. Over the door of the one remaining room of the temple is a dedicatory inscription of Ptolemy IX. in Greek.

5. The Gateway of Hadrian. This gateway stands on a portion of the enclosing wall of the Temple of Isis, on the western side, and was connected with the temple by two parallel walls, which were added at a later time. On the lintels are reliefs in which the Emperor Hadrian is depicted standing before a number of the gods of Philæ, and inside the gateway is a scene representing Marcus Aurelius, who must have repaired the gateway, making offerings to Isis and Osiris.

6. The Temple of Cæsar Augustus, which was built about A.D. 12, and is thought to have been destroyed by an earthquake in Coptic times. In the centre of the paved court in front of it were found in the north-west and southwest corners the two halves of a stele which was inscribed in hieroglyphics and in Greek and Latin, with the record of a revolt against the Romans, which was suppressed by Cornelius Gallus about B.C. 22. The temple was built of sandstone, with granite columns and pedestals, and diorite

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