Wednesday, May 5, 2021

POTD: Trajan's Kiosk

From 2019 11 20 Abu Simbel
Today's photo-of-the-day is of Trajan's Kiosk on the island of Agilkia on the Nile River in southern Egypt. Its history is convoluted, as is much ancient history. It's attributed to the Roman Emperor Trajan (98-117 CE) because of his appearance on some reliefs, but the building is believed to be even older. It was built elsewhere, on the island of Philae, and served as the entrance to the Temple of Philae, which is nearby. The whole complex was moved to its current site to escape rising waters in the Nile River due to the construction of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s. Even if history is not your thing, it's a beautiful work of architecture in any case.

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