First of all we’ve visited rather unusual temple of Kom Ombo.It happened late in the evening and while we were inside the temple it became dark. Although, the temple looked amazing in a lit light, the drawback of this was that thanks to our stupid guide, who didn’t give us enough time to wonder around, I didn’t manage to get good pictures of it. Kom Ombo means "hill of gold" and the area used to be famous for its golden mines. The Temple was built in the second century BC. And then continued to be developed by next kings, as it always the case for any monument in Egypt.
The interesting thing was – the two main hypostyle halls, dated from the 2nd century BC are well preserved...Tells a bit about the quality of the ancient construction work, doesn’t it?
The Temple is actually two temples dedicated to two gods: Sobek (crocodile) and Horus (falcon). Everything is duplicated along the main axis. There are two entrances, two courts, two colonnades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries. There were probably even two sets of priests.
There are papyrus capitals on the columns and the ceiling has astronomical images. And one wall has the most striking relief showing some medical equipment. This relief dates to the end of the second century AD, and it is actually a high level of medical technology, with tweezers, forceps and various other modern looking things. Amazing, isn’t it?
The other "high-speed" temple was Temple dedicated to Horus in Edfu. That Horus was quite a significant God among the others. He is somewhat "a prince of the gods" and the specific patron for the pharaoh, protector and guide. As a son of Osiris and Isis, he became a symbol of right and truth as well as of light. And his uncle – Seth – the symbol of sin and wickedness and of darkness…So there are numerous legends about Horus fighting against Seth, sort of - everlasting war which good men wage against sin. It is believed that well-known legend of the slaughter of the dragon by St. George is nothing but a Christian adaptation of the legend of Horus and Set.
Apart from full-time job of fighting, Horus was also the patron of young men and the ideal of the dutiful son who grows up to become a just man.
So in Edfu there is a temple dedicated to that famous Horus. And we have visited it during our cruise adventure too.
Perhaps, the most attractive part of it – the fact that it is the best preserved ancient temple in the whole Egypt. Or so they say. It is very big. And very crowded as well thanks to all those stupid cruise boats that arrive to Edfu in the same time, according to their schedule…
The walls carved with the scenes of the battles of Horus with his enemies and of course, the scenes of the battles of Pharaoh and sure enough – of his victories. There used to be a small room behind the hall of offerings, where ancient priests used to produce ointments and perfumes – there are still some ancient recipes on the walls there, although I don’t think, you can make use of any of them nowadays…
Anyway, against the cruise plot to interfere with our great plans to see as much as possible, we did managed to grab a little bit of ancient history in the Valley of the Nile.
So – there :-p