Philae Temple during the flood in 1946
Saving the Temple of Isis on the island of Philae: -
Since the completion of the construction of the first Aswan Dam in 1902, the waters of the Nile have besieged Philae Island for most of the year, with the precious archaeological stock that the island includes, including temples, compartments, columns and pharaonic gates, all of which embody Roman-Greek and Pharaonic architectural styles.
Nectanebo, who is considered one of the last original kings of Egypt, built a temple on the island of Philae in the first half of the fourth century BC, and after that came the Ptolemies who ruled the country for 300 years and embraced the worship of Isis, and they added their own shrines on the island.
The construction of the High Dam has radically changed the situation. As the island will become located between the new dam and the old one, it will partially submerge throughout the year.
In addition, the daily withdrawal of water to drive the turbines that generate electricity may mean the presence of continuous ripples within approximately 3 meters of the water level, which in turn leads to the rapid destruction of the stones. Therefore, failure to find a solution to this problem would have resulted in this floating island that has long been fascinating Spirits of tourists to disappear from the map.
When the issue of Philae Island was presented as an urgent problem, the response to the Nuba campaign was swift, which reflected the determination of the international community to save a region of this beauty and this historical importance. Therefore, the issue was not saving elephants or not as much as how to save them.
However, after studying the results of this project, in particular the impact of artesian water on antiquities and the great cost required by the project, the experts also proposed another project submitted by the Egyptian government, which aims to transfer antiquities to the island of Agelica.
The rescue operation of elephants began in 1972, when ships piling piles began installing the first steel plate out of 3000 plates at the bottom of the Nile in order to form a temporary dam to hold water around the island and it took two years to surround the island with two rows of interlocking piles of 12 meters long, and inside this space was Pouring a mixture of water and washed sand into the quarries of the waterfall at a distance of 5 km, and this mixture was connected across the lake through pipes, and the water was allowed to seep out, leaving the sand to support the steel against the pressure of the lake, thus completing the lifeboat around the island
0 Comments