Page 110 - WDT Magazine Egypt

700,000 acres from flood to perennial irrigation. 1906. For seven decades the temple remained under
In two days we would visit people and sites the Nile. UNESCO and several nations got together
impacted by the new lake. First stop, via small fer- and selected Agilika Island for its new home, but they
ries owned by Nubians - the Temple at Philae now had to wait until the completion of the High Dam, in
dramatically perched on Agilika Island in the Nile. 1971 to begin the challenging move.
The Ancient Egyptians built this beautiful temple First engineers reshaped Agilika Island to imitate
on Philae island for the Goddess Isis, but it became Philae Island as closely as possible. To get access to
submerged after the first Aswan dam was built in the underwater temple, they surrounded it with a dam

110 WDT MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018