Felix de VERE (French)
View of the Nile showing the Roman Kiosk of Trajan at Phiale
c.1890
oil on canvas
22 1/5 x 30 inches
The roman Kiosk of Trajan, formerly on the island of Philae, currently on the island of Agilkia near Aswan, Egypt.
Trajan’s Kiosk (after the Emperor Trajan, r. AD (98-117), a hypaethral temple, is one of the largest Ancient Egyptian monuments at the Island of Agikia. Originally built on the island of Philae, it was moved in the 1960s by UNESCO to save it from being enveloped by the rising waters of the Nile due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam. The island is currently completely submerged by water.
The Isle of Philae, described as ‘The Beautiful’, near the first cataract, the ancient boundary of Egypt, is full of ruins of the Ptolemaic period. Philae stood at the frontier between Egypt and Nubia, and nautical processions connected this center of traditional Egyptian religion to shrines and devotees further south, from the nearby temple of Dendur—currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art—to the distant city of Meroe.
Referred to as the ‘Pharaoh’s Bed’, the kiosk bears hieroglyphic inscriptions containing cartouches of the Roman emperor Trajan (98-117 BCE), but the structure may be considerably earlier. Based on its position and architectural style, the large open-air kiosk functioned as a bark shrine. During annual festivals at Philae, riverine boats from other temples would dock outside this structure, where local priests would remove divine statues and carry them into the temple precinct.
This small monument illustrates the unique and mysterious beauty of Philae, a remote island devoted uniquely to Isis and her divine entourage. F. de Vere underlines its quiet, unassuming beauty with the liquidity of his palate, and delicate fluidity of his brushstrokes.
"But Nubia’s sands are passed, and Egypt’s palm Hangs o’er the cataract it may not calm, And Philae’s ruined shrines reflect the beam, Like Naiads’ dwellings bosomed on the stream. Thrice beauteous isle! the hills e’en seem to press More near to scan its marble loveliness, And birds, enamoured, seek its sheltering towers, And fairies tow’rds it sail on lotus flowers".
Nicholas Michell, Phylae from Ruins of Many Lands, 1831