Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Antiquities Completes Restoration of Isis Temple in Aswan


Tue 22 Dec 2020 | 06:48 PM
Ali Abu Dashish

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has completed the restoration and development of the Temple of Isis in Aswan Governorate, some 900 km south of Cairo, in preparation for its opening soon.

Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said that the restoration included restoring floors and columns, cleaning the walls of the remains of birds and bats, and placing wire nets to prevent the entry of birds again.

Waziri added that experts have worked on restoring and cleaning the inscriptions at the entrance to the Holy of Holies, and removing the soot on its ceiling.

The drawings and colors on the temple entrance and the side door were cleaned, and the offering tables in the Column Hall were maintained.

On the other hand, Dr. Ayman Ashmawy, head of the Egyptian Antiquities Sector at the Supreme Council of Antiquities, indicated that the site development work included determining a path for the visitors from entering the temple to its end, developing and installing a modern lighting system that works to show the unique aesthetic aspects of the antiquity without affecting it.

Furthermore, Abdel Moneim Saeed, Director General of Aswan and Nubia Antiquities Zone, pointed out that the Supreme Council of Antiquities made a group of soil sensing and excavations, including the Holy of Holies area to the depth of 2 meters, and the temple hall, in which small pottery vessels were found, and excavations were carried out on the northwest side of the temple courtyard resulted in spotting some red brick walls.

It is worth noting that the temple was discovered in 1871 AD and is about 19 meters long. King Ptolemy III built it for the worship of Isis and the Triad of Aswan, and its construction was not completed. The temple was built of sandstone and has two doors.

The main door is crowned with an ornament topped by the winged sun disk, leading to a hall over which three rooms are opened.

In the eastern wall of the middle room sites “The Holy of Holies” on it some scenes of offering sacrifices are engraved.

Contributed by Ahmed Moamar