Monuments transferred to the site
When the High Dam was built in Aswan, several ancient temples were moved to the island near Aswan, now known as New Kalabsha. The most significant monument reconstructed here is Temple of Kalabsha , dedicated to the Nubian god Mandalas.
It measures 74 meters from the pylon to the back wall and is 33 meters wide, making it the largest freestanding temple in Egyptian Nubia. Only three rooms inside are fully decorated and the temple contains an inscription left by Silko, a Nubian ruler, reflecting the rise of Christianity in the 6th century AD. On the island, there are also the Temples of Beit el-Wali and Gerf Hussein, both dating back to the reign of Ramesses II; and the Roman kiosk of Qertassi plus the chapel of Dedwen.
The original Kalabsha temple was dismantled by a West German team in 13,000 sandstone blocks and rebuilt on the present site between 1961 and 1963.
The origin of Temple of Kalabsha :
Temple of Kalabsha structure and decorations
The sculpted relief decoration of the various parts of the temple was not completed, except in the inner chambers, and in several places, there are roughly sculpted graffiti of different figures, especially hawks. The imposing pylon stands slightly sideways on the east-west axis of the temple and the elevated road. It is well preserved except for the cornice, but it is not decorated apart from the door and the winged solar disk above it. On the right side of the entrance passage, Emperor Augustus is shown in front of Horus.
Coptic graffiti and crosses can be seen from the door, indicating the reuse of the temple later as a Christian church.
The temple follows the standard plan with a monumental pylon followed by an open courtyard, a hypostyle hall (with pillars) and vestibules preceding the sanctuary. The open courtyard at Kalabsha had a colonnade with 14 columns on the north, east and south sides, but only the columns on the north and south sides still stand at their original height and show the complex floral designs that are characteristic of temples of the Greek-Roman period.
The designs of the capitals are arranged in pairs in front of each one across the field. The two at the end and to the right represent palm branches with clusters of dates hanging below. There is no decoration on the walls of the open courtyard.
Nilometer
On the south side of the corridor, there is a circular Nilometer, now well above the water level, with a scale descending beside it. the Nilometers were used by the ancient Egyptians to measure the gradual rise of the annual Nile flooding during the summer period, first of all, so that the word could be sent northwards as regards the possible limit of the flood, which would indicate the amount of work needed to make channels and dams to control the extra water. Secondly, the evaluators were able to make a preliminary estimate of the revenue that would be derived from the harvest the following spring, based on the expected flood height, if any.
Several minor monuments
Behind the temple, to the southwest, there is a chapel consisting of a small rock. the cut room closed by a granite pillar square with screen walls. Only the door of the chamber is decorated and has reliefs of an unnamed pharaoh offering to the god Nubian Dedwen. Since this chapel was originally inside the mud-brick enclosure of the temple fence, it could have served as the birthplace.
To the northeast of the temple, the pillar is a small unfinished chapel from the Ptolemaic period from the reign of Ptolemy IX, which therefore precedes the larger temple. The exterior of the chapel is not decorated, but the reliefs inside show the king offering the triad of Elephantine, Khum, Satis, and Anukis, as well as Mandulis, Wadjet, Osiris, Isis, and Horus. On the north side of the temple is a granite stele of Psammetichus II from the 26th Dynasty, which records his successful Nubian campaign in 593 BC. On the south side, several prehistoric petroglyphs are dating from 5000 to 3000 BC, which were also brought from further south and show various animals, such as elephants and gazelles.