Philae is an island in the Aswan Low Dam reservoir, downstream of the Aswan High Dam and Lake Nasser, Egypt. Philae Island was originally located near the Great Cataract of the Nile River in Upper Egypt and was the site of an Egyptian temple complex. The island is in the Nile River between the Old Aswan High Dam and the Aswan High Dam, in Aswan. (Governorate) of southern Egypt. Its ancient Egyptian name was Ba'aliq; the derived Coptic name Pilak ("the end" or "the far place") probably refers to the demarcation of the border with Nubia. The traditional name (Philae) is Greek, but locally the site is known as Qasr Anas al-Wujud, after the hero of One Thousand and One Nights. Before its gradual submersion into the reservoir created by the old Aswan High Dam after 1902, the 1,500 by 490 feet (460 by 150 m) aluminized granite rock of Philae was always above the highest floods of the Nile. As a result, it attracted many ancient temple and shrine builders. Philae, Abu Simbel and other nearby monuments were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
