Egypt: Day 5
September 20, 2022
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Above: The Temple of Kom Ombo, about 30 km. north of Aswan, is an unusual double temple, with each side a mirror image of the other.
It was constructed 180–47 BC during the Greek-Egyptian Ptolemy period, with some additions to it later made during the Roman period.
One side is dedicated, the crocodile god, Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu.
The other side is dedicated to Horus, the falcon god, along with Tefnut (the Good Sister) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands).
Until recent times the Egyptian Nile was infested with these ferocious crocodiles, who would lay on the riverbank and devour animals and humans alike.
Unsurprisingly, the local inhabitants feared them, but they believed that as an object of worship, crocodiles would then not attack them.
Captive crocodiles were kept within the temple and many mummified crocodiles have been found in cemeteries.
Three hundred of those are displayed next door in the crocodile museum.
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1 and 2 show the sunset on the Nile River from the cruise ship.
3 and 4 show the top deck of the cruise ship, the pool area and the lounge area.
5 and 6 show after sunset along the Nile.
7 shows our people gathering to enter the Temple of Kom Ombo, and several souvenir sellers are already hounding some of the group.
8 to 10 show the front of the Temple of Kom Ombo ... #9 is a Louis Haghe lithograph of a David Roberts illustration of 1849, showing the ruined
state the Temple was in, half of it covered in sand, before restoration began in 1893.
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