people of
Egypt, Philae must go. 'Let the dead bury their dead.' The concern of the
rulers of Egypt must be with the living people of Egypt rather than with
the dead bones of the past; and they would not be doing their duty did
they for a moment allow artistic and archaeological considerations to
outweigh in their minds the practical necessities of the country. This
does not in the least imply that they do not owe a lesser duty to the
monuments of Egypt, which are among the most precious relics of the past
history of mankind. They do owe this lesser duty, and with regard to
Philae it has been conscientiously fulfilled. The whole temple, in order
that its stability may be preserved under the stress of submersion, has
been braced up and underpinned, under the superintendence of Mr. Ball,
of the Survey Department, who has most efficiently carried out this
important work, at a cost of L22,000.

[Illustration: 449.jpg THE KIOSK AT PHILAE IN PROCESS OF UNDERPINNING
AND RESTORATION, JANUARY, 1902.]

Steel girders have been fixed across the island from quay to quay,
and these have been surrounded by cement masonry, made water-tight
by forcing in cement grout. Pharaoh's Bed and the colonnade have been
firmly underpinned in cement masonry, and there is little doubt that the
actual stability of Philae is now more certain than that of any other
temple in Egypt. The only possible damage that can accrue to it is
the partial discolouration of the lower courses of the stonework of
Pharaoh's Bed, etc., which already bear a distinct high-water mark. Some
surface disintegration from the formation of salt crystals is perhaps
inevitable here, but the effects of this can always be neutralized
by careful washing, which it should be an important charge of the
Antiquities Department to regularly carry out."

[Illustration: 450.jpg THE ANCIENT QUAY OP PHILAE, NOVEMBER, 1904.]

This is entirely covered when the reservoir is full, and the
palm-trees are farther submerged.

The photographs accompanying the present chapter show the dam, the Kiosk
in process of conservation and underpinning (1902), and the shores of
the island as they now appear in the month of November, with the water
nearly up to the level of the quays. A view is also given of the island
of Konosso, with its inscriptions, as it is now. The island is simply a
huge granite boulder of the kind characteristic of the neighbourhood of
Shellal (Phila?) and Aswan.

On the