Philae - The Jewel of the Nile

The small temple of Het-Hert, just east of the great temple of Isis and facing towards the west, was built by Ptolemy VI and extended by Ptolemy VIII and the Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius.

It consists of a so called kiosk with fourteen Het-Hert-headed columns, a pronaos and a cult terrace at the back of the temple facing the Nile. The beautiful reliefs on the temple walls depict musicians playing for the entertainment of the gods, all in accordance with the patron deity Hathor, of singing, music and dance .

Plan showing the layout of the temple of Het-Hert and which ruler built the different parts.

On the propylons of this temple there is an inscription which points at the importance of the relationship between Het-Hert and the Sungod Re:

Re exalts without ceasing
His heart rejoices when he joins his daughter,
He swims in his firmament, in peace
He turns and takes his course





A look across the courtyard through the small HetHert temple where you can see
the eastern shore on the other side.

At Philae most of the ancient Egyptian female deities like Mut, Nit (Neith), Nekhbet and Sekhmet together with Het-Hert merged into one; the Goddess Aset. This happened during the Greek and Roman days, why a closer study of each of these deities is neccessary if we want to understand the role and importance of the female goddesses in ancient Egyptian religion.