Philea Temple

Egypt has built dams along the Nile to prevent flooding. Unfortunately, several ancient Egyptian sites were put under water from the lakes that formed. Philea Temple was underwater for 40 years before Egypt finally received the international aid required to move the temple to dry land. It took over 7 years to disassemble and reassemble the temple on dry land. The new location is on an island. The only way to get there is via boat. (Because you really shouldn’t swim in the Nile.)

We hopped on a small boat and played bumper boats until we were free from the traffic jam at the dock.

This temple was interesting for how other religions and cultures had impacted the temple. One part of the temple, had been converted into a Christian altar. Other parts of the temple were covered in graffiti from as recently as 1850. This is not spray can type graffiti. This is full on carving in the walls graffiti.