01/02: Kom Ombo and Edfu
Category: General
Posted by: The Agnew Family
I’m not exactly sure what happened but I was not in any shape to go sightseeing this morning, so I sent Ed out with the group. The short succinct blurb is his.
The temple was built in the 18th dynasty, between 1550 and 1292 BC. The temple of Kom Ombo different from other temples in that the temple is actually a double-shrouded cloister. It is devoted to two separate gods; on the left side to the falcon god (Horus) and on the right side to the crocodile god (Sobek).
The outside of the temple.
There is a Nilometer in the temple. The Nilometer determined the amount the Nile River was flooding by counting the number of steps the water covered. The more steps that were covered the higher the taxes (a good farming year).
Mummified crocodiles.
The boat left Kom Ombo and sailed toward Edfu.
Along the way a small boat pulled up along side our cruise boat, tied up. The men started shouting and when people looked over at them, the men through up bags of napkins and tablecloths. The idea was to bargain back and forth. If you didn’t come to a deal you through the goods back down to the boat, if you came to a deal you put money in the bag and through it down to the boat. Some of our group had fun bargaining but no one ended up purchasing anything.
This afternoon I feeling a bit better so I joined the group in the visit to the Edfu Temple. Getting there was interesting. Two people boarded a rickety carriage and went for a 15 minute drive through the streets of Edfu to the temple.
James, the tour leader on one of the carriages. Two people from the group are in the carriage.
The Temple of Horace at Edfu, having escaped destruction from Nile floods is the most completely preserved Egyptian temple. The temple was stunning. We arrived around 3pm after many of the tourists had already left. By the time we left the temple at 4:30 there were only a few tourists left.
One of the forms of Horace is a falcon. Here’s a statue of him wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. One room in the temple was a library, the walls were covered with hieroglyphics with information about medicine and other topics.
Our fearless leaders, James, the tour leader and "I don't know how to spell his name", our guide and Egyptologist.
Our cruise ship, the Sonesta Star Goddess
Sunset from the cruise ship.
The temple was built in the 18th dynasty, between 1550 and 1292 BC. The temple of Kom Ombo different from other temples in that the temple is actually a double-shrouded cloister. It is devoted to two separate gods; on the left side to the falcon god (Horus) and on the right side to the crocodile god (Sobek).
The outside of the temple.
There is a Nilometer in the temple. The Nilometer determined the amount the Nile River was flooding by counting the number of steps the water covered. The more steps that were covered the higher the taxes (a good farming year).
Mummified crocodiles.
The boat left Kom Ombo and sailed toward Edfu.
Along the way a small boat pulled up along side our cruise boat, tied up. The men started shouting and when people looked over at them, the men through up bags of napkins and tablecloths. The idea was to bargain back and forth. If you didn’t come to a deal you through the goods back down to the boat, if you came to a deal you put money in the bag and through it down to the boat. Some of our group had fun bargaining but no one ended up purchasing anything.
This afternoon I feeling a bit better so I joined the group in the visit to the Edfu Temple. Getting there was interesting. Two people boarded a rickety carriage and went for a 15 minute drive through the streets of Edfu to the temple.
James, the tour leader on one of the carriages. Two people from the group are in the carriage.
The Temple of Horace at Edfu, having escaped destruction from Nile floods is the most completely preserved Egyptian temple. The temple was stunning. We arrived around 3pm after many of the tourists had already left. By the time we left the temple at 4:30 there were only a few tourists left.
One of the forms of Horace is a falcon. Here’s a statue of him wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. One room in the temple was a library, the walls were covered with hieroglyphics with information about medicine and other topics.
Our fearless leaders, James, the tour leader and "I don't know how to spell his name", our guide and Egyptologist.
Our cruise ship, the Sonesta Star Goddess
Sunset from the cruise ship.