VIEW UNDER THE GRAND PORTICO, PHILiE. 
This sketch presents, in another direction, a more striking view of the exquisite sculpture 
and carved decorations of the columns and the painted ceilings in this beautiful portico. 
At the extremity of the vista, the ruins of an altar show that it was once a place of 
Christian worship. It has been fractured and displaced, probably in search of treasure, 
for even the flooring has been broken up and disturbed. The emblem of the cross 
is everywhere seen, but no community of Christians now exists in the valley of the 
Nile from Esn4 to the borders of Abyssinia. 
Many objects of great interest are found by those who search for them amidst 
the ruins of this Temple, but some that are in dark chambers are of more historical 
than picturesque importance. All these structures, however, are of comparatively low 
date—the oldest not more than 380 years B.c. The Ptolemies raised this beautiful 
Temple upon what remained of the structures built by Nectanebo, and which was 
destroyed by the Persians in their last invasion of Egypt; and they continued to 
enrich and adorn this shrine, even to the last of them—"the Serpent of Old Nile,” 
whose portrait is appropriately sculptured on the walls of this Temple, dedicated to 
Athor. Other portraits also are here of Ptolemaic Queens, but not only is that of 
Cleopatra more strikingly handsome than either those of Arsinoe or Berenice, but 
her eventful history commands a higher interest in a resemblance which, it is highly 
probable, is authentic. 
Nor did the interest in Philge cease with the Ptolemies. The Roman Emperors 
successively enriched it, and so great was the celebrity of this Temple, that numerous 
Greek and Latin inscriptions attest the feelings, with the names, of many who came 
to worship in the Temple of Isis: these made such heavy claims upon the funds of 
the priests, that a Greek inscription exists on the pedestal of the Obelisk which Belzoni 
removed from Philge, in which they appeal to Ptolemy Physcon, who was a great 
benefactor to their Temple, to prevent so many persons of rank and public functionaries 
from visiting the island, and living at their expense. It is as follows:— 
"To King Ptolemy, and Queen Cleopatra his sister, and the Queen Cleopatra his 
wife, gods Euergetes welfare: We, the priests of Isis, the very great goddess [worshipped] 
in Abaton and Philge; seeing that those who visit Philge, generals, chiefs, governors of 
districts in the Thebaid, royal scribes, chiefs of police, and all other functionaries, as 
well as their soldiers and other attendants, oblige us to provide for them during their 
stay; the consequence of which is, that the Temple is impoverished, and we run the risk 
of not having enough for the customary sacrifices and libations offered for you and 
