Trajan's Kiosk, also known as Pharaoh's Bed ( ar, سرير فرعون) by the locals, is a hypaethral temple currently located on

Agilkia Island Agilkia Island (also called Agilika; , from Old Nubian: ⲁ̅ⲅⲗ̅, romanised: ''agil,'' "mouth") is an island in the reservoir of the Old Aswan Dam along the Nile River in southern Egypt; it is the present site of the relocated ancient Egyp ...

in southern

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. The unfinished monument is attributed to

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

, Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD, due to his depiction as pharaoh seen on some of the interior reliefs. However, the majority of the structure dates to an earlier time, possibly to the reign of

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

. The temple was originally built on the island of

Philae ; ar, فيلة; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ , alternate_name = , image = File:File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 93.jpg , alt = , caption = The temple of Isis from Philae at its current location on Agilkia Island in Lake Nasse ...

, near the lower

Aswan Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

, and served as main entrance to the Philae Island Temple Complex from the

Nile The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...

river. It was relocated to Agilika Island in the 1960s as part of the

International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia The International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia was the relocation of 22 monuments in Lower Nubia, in Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, between 1960 and 1980. The success of the project, in particular the creation of a coalition of 50 ...

to save it from the rising waters of the

that followed the construction of the

Aswan High Dam The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is one of the world's largest embankment dams, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan L ...

. This 15-x-20 metre kiosk is 15.85 metres high; its function was likely "to shelter the bark of

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kin ...

at the eastern banks" of Philae island. Its four by five columns each carry "different, lavishly structured composite capitals that are topped by 2.10-metre-high piers" and were originally intended to be sculpted into

Bes BES or Bes may refer to: * Bes, Egyptian deity * Bes (coin), Roman coin denomination * Bes (Marvel Comics), fictional character loosely based on the Egyptian deity Abbreviations * Bachelor of Environmental Studies, a degree * Banco Espírito ...

piers, similar to the birthhouses of Philae, Armant, and

Dendera Dendera ( ar, دَنْدَرة ''Dandarah''; grc, Τεντυρις or Τεντυρα; Bohairic cop, ⲛⲓⲧⲉⲛⲧⲱⲣⲓ, translit=Nitentōri; Sahidic cop, ⲛⲓⲧⲛⲧⲱⲣⲉ, translit=Nitntōre), also spelled ''Denderah'', ancient ...

though this decoration was never completed. The structure is today roofless, but sockets within the structure's architraves suggest that its

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of te ...

, which was made of timber, was indeed constructed in ancient times. Three 12.50-metre-long, presumably triangulated

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es, "which were inserted into a ledge at the back of stone architecture, carried the slightly

vaulted In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while ring ...

roof." All the fourteen columns are connected by a screening wall, with entrances in the eastern and western facades. This building represents an example of the unusual combination of wood and stone in the same architectural structure for an Egyptian temple. The attribution to Emperor Trajan is based on a carving inside the kiosk structure, depicting the emperor burning incense before Osiris and Isis.

Gallery

File:David Roberts Hypaethral Temple Philae.jpg, ''The Hypaethral Temple of Philae'' by David Roberts, 1838, in ''

The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia ''The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia'' is a travelogue of 19th-century Palestine and the magnum opus of Scottish painter David Roberts. It contains 250 lithographs by Louis Haghe of Roberts's watercolor sketches. It was fi ...

'' File:Kiosk of Trajan 1839.jpg, Kiosk in December, 1839, Pierre-Gustave Joly de Lotbinière File:John Beasly Greene (American, born France - The Kiosk of Trajan, Philae - Google Art Project.jpg, Kiosk in 1854 by John Beasley Greene File:Hypaethral Temple Philae.jpg, ''The Hypaethral Temple, Philae'', by

Francis Frith Francis Frith (also spelled Frances Frith, 7 October 1822 – 25 February 1898) was an English photographer of the Middle East and many towns in the United Kingdom. Frith was born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, attending Quaker schools at Ackwo ...

, 1857; from the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland

References

External links

* {{Coord, 24.0251, N, 32.8846, E, source:wikidata, display=title Philae Kiosk