Kom Ombo Temple
Kom Ombo temple Is situated on the banks of the Nile, some 23 miles north of Aswan, and is unusual in that it is dedicated to two gods, Horus & Sobek. Sobek was the crocodile god of Nile fertility, and the bend of the river here was once home to a large number of Nile crocodiles, which were held to be sacred.
Indeed, there is a small collection of mummified crocodiles in the small chapel of Hathor within the temple. The live crocodiles have long since gone, thankfully! The temple has two of everything, to accommodate the two gods, and among the reliefs on the walls – mainly from the late period and the Roman time – are detailed a set of medical instruments.
Scenes to see depicted on the walls of the Kom Ombo temple
- The offering presentation on the front wall at the side of the crocodile Sobek (King Ptolomy is standing while holding offerings in front of the holy triad Sobek, his wife, and their son, behind the king stands the high priest followed by female figures from the royal palace with 50 Hieroglyphic lines of inscriptions.
- The purification of the king by Horus the Falcon God, and Thot the Ibis god of wisdom.
- The coronation of the king accompanied by Isis the goddess of love, Sekhmet, Horus the father, and Horus the son.
- The surgical instruments.
- Also visible here are well-preserved bases of previously full-height walls, allowing you to see how the Egyptians got the stone blocks to but up so close with the use of wooden inserts and water.
The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple built during the rule Ptolemaic dynasty in the Egyptian town of Kom Ombo. One side of the temple is dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world. The other side is dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris, also known as Horus the Elder.
The temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 B.C) at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemys, most notably Ptolemy XIII (47-44 B.C.), who built the inner and outer hypo-style halls.
Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used the stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts who once used the temple as a church.
Just three of the three thousand crocodile mummies discovered in the vicinity are displayed inside the temple.
