Egypt:  Day 4, our last day of the Nile cruise, we took a boat to the temple of Isis, the last bastian of paganism in Egypt.  The boats were operated by Nubians.  I continue to be amazed at how many of us they fit onto one of those tubs!  They looked like they were held together by paint and wire… But we made it out to the island without a hitch.

As we climbed onto the gangplank, one of my British friends wondered if there were crocodiles in the water.  I told her all the Nile crocs are now on the other side of the High Dam, which is what our guide Aladdin told us several days ago.

The Temple of Isis was Egypt’s last pagan holdout.  It took 100 years after Christianity came into Egypt for that

temple to fall.  The Copts conquered.  We saw colorful paintings of saints on the walls and Coptic crosses throughout the temple.  The columned hall of the temple was converted into a church.  One of the remaining inscriptions is from Bishop Theodorus, who commended the defacement of the pagan reliefs (AD 527-565).  The Monuments of Ancient Egypt, Jeremy Stafford-Deitch, 144.

They did deface the faces and extremities of most carvings in the temple.  The reason: Copts believed the pagan spirits could not rise again because they wouldn’t recognize their former  body if the face was chipped away.

As we exited Isis’ temple, the view of the water through the  Temple of Hathor was stunning.  As you see in the picture, it is small but lovely, with delicate carvings adorning the columns. It’s quite open, and it feels like you are more outdoors than indoors.

Tried white grape and basil seed drink  yum!  The basil seeds are the consistency of a jelled chia seed. Best of all, it was COLD!

One thing we appreciated: the Nubian salesmen just waited for us to come and look at their wares, they were not pushy at all.  Consequently, we felt safe to browse and bought more things.  It helped that 2 of them clambered aboard the boat with us, and their bracelets / necklaces were inexpensive and well-made.  So I bought 2 bracelets for my girls made out of magnetite, a gunmetal gray stone.