Day 9: Sept 5 Part II The Nubian Village and School, Philae Temples Moved to Agilkia

The traditional Nubian village is a charming colorful break in the desert scenery. 

In ancient Egyptian times Nubia was known as "land of the Bow" because Nubian archers had a fierce reputation. No one knows where the name Nubia comes from, although the word for gold in hieroglyphics was nbw (w probably being pronounced as u). More likely the name comes from the Meroitic word "nob" meaning slave, as the Kushites who ruled the Nile area a thousand years before the Egyptians took over used people there for forced agricultural labor.

As we pulled into the dock area, the camel caravan was just arriving in town.

We were met by hawkers who had little Nubian dolls to sell.

We disembarked and headed towards the stairs that led to the home we were about to visit.

Inside there was a large roofless open area with all manner of room along the inside open area.

We were served tea and a delicious dark bread that was cut into diagonal squares with thick, gooey molasses. 

I had begun to catch a cold and our guide had said that the molasses would cure all coughs, so I was happy to enjoy its sweet malty goodness.

Here is a picture of the of the family that hosted us. Behind them are some of the souvenirs of Nubia that they sell.

I believe I heard that Nubian dress tends to feature a lot of purple and black.

We had the opportunity to see the Nile crocodile here too.

The Nile crocodile is one of the deadliest animals in the region killing hundreds of people every year.  An apex predator, (meaning top of the food chain), it has enormous biting force of about 5000 pounds per foot. As with the American alligator, the jaw muscles for opening the jaw are extremely weak and thus the jaw can easily be held closed by hand (or as you see in the picture above by a piece of string.)

A pit in the floor contained larger animals and some young ones. Adult males are usually between 11 and 16 feet in length with females being on average 30% smaller.

They are ambush predators who can swim for some 30 minutes under water and who can hold their breaths for up to 2 hours under water if necessary.

When you see crocodiles basking in the sun, they usually have their mouths open as a way of regulating body temperature. Tying a crocodile's mouth shut in the baking sun can kill it. 

Below is another reptile, I think an Egyptian tortoise or Kleinmann's tortoise. It is a species listed as threatened in the wild, although there are many now living in captivity all over the world.

We got a chance to peek into the various rooms of the building.

Here is a bedroom.

And these cups are very practical.

We were told the baskets hanging from the ceiling stored onions and other vegetables, but it seems like they would be warmer up there and be hard to get to.

This was a nice little room at the front as we came in. When we were leaving there were some men sitting and having tea there.

I definitely like the marine-colored aesthetic.

We were going to walk to the school, but one of the roads was closed. Nonetheless you don't think we would  be prohibited from walking through the market, do you?

Now that I am home I see all kinds of things I might be interested in buying, but at the time it was overwhelming.

There were a lot of baskets and woven things, including beautiful dresses.

And I had thought I would buy a leather bag while in Egypt, but somehow did not get around to it.

Then it was onto the bus and a short drive to the school.

We drove further through the market and had a higher vantage point for shopping...

or just people watching.

There were the ever present signs of poverty which made the school seem very precious when we got there.

I'm very curious about this fruit laden tree. The guide (who only heard me describe it, but did not see it) thought it might be a mango, but the online identifier says it is chaste wood. I suspect it is neither.

On the way we passed men chatting and relaxing in their galabeyas.

The school is staffed mostly by volunteers. Nubians have their own language, so the children have to learn to read and write in three languages: Nubian Egyptian Arabic and English.

Below you see the Nubian numbers written out in Arabic lettering.

The pupils sang a song for us about what numbers correspond to what in each of the languages. "Wahad Yanni one." (One in arabic means one in English) with each number then being used with a menmonic sentence.

Oh for the days in the US in which students loved school like this!

It made me wonder about volunteer teaching in a Nubian school.

But there was more to be done and seen, so our visit was far too short and soon we were back on the bus so we could go back to a boat and head towards the island of Agilkia

We drove through a part of the village we had not yet seen and it had many colorful and enticing buildings.

It never occurred to me to paint the rock work on my house. I'm sure my neighbors wouldn't appreciate me doing it, but I really loved the daring use of color!

We went by the old British dam.

and on our right I believe we could see the island we were about to visit.

The beautiful monuments on the island of Philae were regularly submerged with the flooding of the Nile after the building of the Aswan Low Dam in 1902. 

In order to save the buildings Unesco started a project in the 1960s to transfer the buildings to Agilkia island.

They measured everything photometrically and cut things into blocks to transfer them to the new island which is very similar in shape and only 500 meters away.

We bid a last goodbye to the Nubian village from our boat and continued on our way

We had to take our life jackets with us from the bus and keep them handy for this leg of the journey.

It rally could not have been a nicer day and with the breeze from the moving boat it was a cool and comfortable means of travel.

I am quite enamored of this shot taken by spousal unit D.

We docked at the pier and walked through yet another shopping area. There were slightly different kinds of wares here, including a musical instrument consisting of a single string played with a bow.

Our guide once again found us a shady place to tell us a little about the rescue project and the importance of the island historically. The island of Philae was reputed to be the burial place of the god Osiris, so it was considered very holy.

Here is a comparison of the two islands: Philae and Agilkia to which they ended up moving the buildings. 

I really think they did an amazing job of approximating the original location.

Just for comparison, here is the google earth shot also.

The oldest building on the new "Philae island" was the temple of Isis begun by Nectanebo I (380-362 BCE). He was the founder of the last Egyptian dynasty (the 30th.) Most of the buildings are ptolemaic or Roman and from a much later date. Below is a pylon for the temple of Isis. Only the gateway built into the pylon stems from Nectanebo. A small kiosk that was originally the vestibule of the temple is the only other construction stemming from his rule.

The first pylon stands in front of the Mammisi - the birthing house. The temple of Imhotep is on the right side behind the colonnade.

The gate in the middle is called the gate of Ptolemy II. There are two pink granite lions on either side of it (that used to be accompanied by pink granite obelisks.)

The scenes depicted on the pylon are on the left of Ptolemy X (Neo Dionysus - rather than the Egyptian King) grasps his enemies by the hair and smites them. Scenes above this show the king offering the two crowns of Egypt to Horus and Nephthys and also offering incense to Isis and the child Horus.

Leading up to the pylon is a long colonnade of pillars.

It is very impressive to see groupings of structures that appear to be in tact. It gives a better sense of what the area must have been like in its heyday.

As you can see, the pillars have a variety of plant-based capitals that identify them as ptolemaic in character and date.

Here are depicted Hathor, Horus and Isis.

Here is the other side of the pylon with a courtyard of more columns and similar depictions.

This absolutely beautiful cat reigned supreme at the Temple of Isis.

What dignity and grace!

There was also a little kitten, who was the recipient of my breakfast leftovers. The guard put it down in the trough around that pillar and he was able to eat unbothered by tourists or other hungry kitties.

Below you see the doorway to the entrance to the inner sanctum of the Temple of Isis (left)

Above are several scenes with the king making an offering to Hathor with Isis standing behind her. The interior had lots of carved reliefs with little sign of color.

In the image below Sekhmet receives an offering.

Below is the god Khnum.

In general the images in the Temple of Isis have to do with her birthing of Horus, but I do not see specific images relating to this among the ones I have published here.

What I have most noticed about these reliefs is the presence of a prominent navel. Something I don't remember seeing in other reliefs.

This could be Hathor holding the was scepter before Ptah. Below offerings are being made to Sekhmet and Tefnut. On the right the offerings seem to be to Osiris and Hathor or maybe Isis.

I am publishing these images as it for now and will continue to update and add descriptions as I discover more information about what is being depicted.

This looks like the King making an offering to Osiris and Khnum. Below appears to be an effaced image of Hathor perhaps before a King or priest making an offering.

Here the King makes an offering before Hathor and other gods.

Lots of offering goes on in this temple! ;-)

Consider this a test - what do you see in these images? Extra points for those who can distinguish Isis from Hathor!

Here offerings are being made to a whole group of gods, definitely Isis and Hathor as well as Horus and Sekhmet.

The king offers nemset jar offerings to Horus, Ma'at, Sekhmet, Osiris and Isis.

Ptolemaic Temples all have sacred pools and Birth Houses according to our guide. This is information about the Philae Island Mammisi or birth house.

This is the so-called Kiosk of Trajan that lies to the South of the Temple of Isis.

Although it was never finished, the 15 x 15 meter construction appears as one of the most complete structures on the island.

It is believed this structure may have been built under the rule of Alexander. Often called "the Pharoah's Bed" it has several depictions of Trajan (98-117 CE) on the interior walls, including one of him burning incense before Isis and Osiris. It was most likely a shelter for the barque of Isis.

I do not have good resources at present for identifying the figures in these reliefs.

This man was quite eager to point out something he felt was very important on this pillar.

Possibly from the smaller Temple of Hathor, we see her image featured prominently on this pillar.

Here is what is left of another temple. It could be the remains of the temple of Hathor, but there should be at least a pillar and an image of Ben there somewhere if it is.

Here you see the remainders of the Temple of Augustus and the gate of Diocletian in the far background

Here you see it a bit closer.

This is the gate of Hadrian below.

These guys seem to have the right attitude!

Remains of an old building that wasn't saved from the Aswan dam project.

For a really nice description of Philae I have to recommend TheNotSoInnocentsAbroad blog (here) from four years ago. They have gorgeous pictures and good information.

You might also want to check out Google Earth and their 3D imaging of any of these amazing sites here.

On the way back we passed by  another market. Did I succumb to the temptation of having seen all that Nubian merchandise? Why yes I did. I purchased some cat earrings that I quite like. one of our members got to drive the boat. We were all pretty excited about it!

On the way back to the bus a Nubian salesman came on board and offered us great deals on Nubian jewelry.

My friends below didn't end up buying all those beads, but I bet the guy would have given them a great deal on them. And yes, I did end up buying a hematite necklace from that guy too.

Soon enough we were back at the pier and then headed towards the bus. This was our morning activity, but we had a whole other temple and the Papyrus Institute still on the agenda for the day!

I have one more image that might be offensive to some viewers it is of a stuffed animal that hung from the ceiling of our boat. Do NOT scroll any further if you think you might be offended. 

I found the image funny, but...

not everyone will feel that way I suspect, so just go to the next blog post if you are sensitive to sexual content.

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I mean it!

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Last chance to turn back...

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