by Osirei, and completed by his son Remeses II. The place can scarcely be traced 
amidst the mounds and ruins of Arab hovels. Though so little remains of this 
Temple, it is full of interest to the Egyptian antiquary, from the inscriptions which 
are still found and read among its hieroglyphics. 
THE ISLAND OF PHILiE BY SUNSET. 
Thebe is no object on the Nile so beautiful as the Island of Philge, with its temples 
and trees seen amidst the wild desolation of the vast rocks which here bound the 
river above the first cataract of the Nile. 
On whichever side this charming island is approached, nothing can exceed its 
beauty. The picturesque forms of its temples, its romantic situation, and its fertility, 
are the themes of every traveller. It is the first object lying in the beauty of repose 
which presents itself to those who ascend the river after the turmoil and dangers of 
the cataract. But with all these natural advantages, and the emotions excited by 
the charm of contrast, it acquires a vast increase of beauty if it be seen at sunset, 
against the blaze of the last rays of an Egyptian sun ; it is then that the light, breaking 
through the elegant Temple called the bed of Pharaoh, enriches the scene, with the 
character of fairy land. 
