15th December 2012
Isis Temple (Ptolemaic) Update - Shelwit - West Bank
Isis Temple (Ptolemaic) Update - Shelwit - West Bank
It had been advertised that the temple is being restored and renovated and will then be opened to the public.
It was a year ago when I was last here. Having visited it a week ago when Lynda and Barbara were here on holiday, I was very surprised to see the change. The site area has been totally cleaned. There are restorers inside the temple and quite a large workforce in the surrounding area. Workers are making new mud bricks, so I assume they are going to re-build and construct some of the walls, which will indeed indicate what the site must have looked like back in time.
Along with Lynda and Barbara, I was very lucky last week to have visited the temple, have tea with the guardian and him letting us all look around and take photos.
I thought it would be nice to do a followup on its progress and to photograph it as it moved forward to its completion. I went there some days ago hoping to take some pictures of the workers doing their stuff, but this time they would not let me anywhere near the site or take photos. A few days ago I went back with a lady friend, this time on a Friday, which is normally very good to get onto sites, but no, again we could not take photos but could walk around the site.
As a trainee Indiana Jones, I was not easily going to be put off from my objective. I remembered this five-floor block of flats on the other side of the wall that overlooked the site. So today I went there and found my way to the block of flats. I had in my iPhone a voice and word translation in Arabic asking “Can I please take photos from your roof” The lady there said no but when I said I would give her 10LE, her face lit up. I took my pictures and said I would be back in a few days and will give her the same money (10LE) again. I would like to take some photos of the workers in action and to follow its progress.
Here are last years photos.
New photos taken.
What a change, quite sterile, but I am sure when its all finished it will be worth while.