Philae Temple Sound and Light Show in Aswan with Boat Transfers

As evening falls, your guide meets you at your Aswan hotel or at your Nile cruise ship and escorts you by private car to the dock where the Philae boats depart. The drive takes you south of the city toward the old Aswan Dam, where the river breaks into a maze of granite islands and quiet channels.

At the dock you step into a boat for the short crossing. If you are out on the water as the sun goes down, watch the sky over the rocks turn pink and amber while the first lights come on across the island ahead. The approach by boat is part of the experience, because it is how Philae has always been reached: worshippers came across the water to this sanctuary of Isis for centuries.

The boats ride low and steps can be damp, so take your time and watch your footing. Bring a light jacket or shawl, since even after a warm day the river can feel cool once the sun has set. Keep small cash in Egyptian pounds for tips, which are not included, and a phone or camera with a charged battery for the illuminated temple.

Once on the island you take your seat, and the show begins. For one hour the temple is brought to life with projections, colored lighting and dramatic narration that tells the story of Isis and Osiris, one of the oldest and most influential myths of ancient Egypt.

The tale is a powerful one. Osiris, the good king, is murdered by his jealous brother Seth, who scatters his body across Egypt. Isis, his devoted wife, searches the land to gather the pieces and restore him with her magic, conceives their son Horus, and hides the child in the marshes until he is grown enough to avenge his father. Osiris becomes lord of the underworld, and Isis becomes the great protective mother goddess. Philae was one of her most famous sanctuaries, so the story is told here in the very place devoted to her.

The setting does much of the work. The towering pylons, the open courtyards, and the carved columns, so graceful by day, take on an almost theatrical presence against the night sky, doubled by their reflections in the surrounding water. Sit back and let the light move across the stone.

Between scenes, your guide leads you through the lit complex, pointing out the carved reliefs that are hard to appreciate from a seat. Most of what you see dates from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, when Greek-speaking kings and Roman emperors had themselves carved in traditional pharaonic dress, making offerings to Isis on the walls of her temple.

Philae was also one of the last places where the old religion survived. Worship of Isis continued here long after Christianity had spread through Egypt, and the latest known hieroglyphic inscription, from the late fourth century AD, was carved on these walls. Look for the crosses later cut into some reliefs, left by Christians who reused parts of the temple as a church.

Your guide will also explain the island's rescue. The original temple stood on Philae Island, which was partially submerged for decades after the first Aswan Dam was built, so that visitors rowed among its flooded columns. When the Aswan High Dam threatened to drown it for good, an international campaign led by UNESCO dismantled the temple block by block and rebuilt it on nearby Agilkia Island, landscaped to resemble the original.

When the show ends, you make your way back to the landing, where a steamboat carries you across the dark water to shore. Turn around as you pull away: the floodlit temple seen from the river, with its reflection stretched across the water, is one of the most beautiful sights of the evening and worth a final photograph.

Your private car is waiting at the dock to take you back to your hotel or your Nile cruise ship. The drive is short, and you are usually back in good time for a late dinner or a drink on deck before bed. This is the moment to thank your guide and drivers with a tip if you would like to, since gratuities are not included.

The show makes a good complement to a daytime visit to Philae, which lets you study the reliefs in natural light, but it also stands well on its own for travelers short on time. Many visitors fit it into an evening between a felucca sail, a visit to the High Dam, or an early start for Abu Simbel, since it uses hours that would otherwise go unused.