Along the Nile--Kom Ombo and Edfu

Kom Ombo gate at dusk

This is my third cruise down the Nile and I'm learning more than ever before because we have such a good guide.  He is a restoration engineer working at the Valley of the Kings to stabilize and restore the magnificent tombs there.  He does guiding during his days off. 

Sobek, the crocodile god

We docked for a visit to the temple of Kom Ombo last evening about 5:30, just in time to walk from the boat to this very interesting site as the sun set in the west and the full moon rose in the east.
One of the 2 main gods at Kom Ombo (a temple dedicated to 2 gods is unusual) is Sobek, the crocodile god.  The Nile used to have thousands of crocodiles and, apparently, still has some, not visible to us. 

crocodile frieze

The ancient Egyptians used to mummify crocodiles, so we went to the Crocodile Museum to see some of them.  They even mummified crocodile eggs, which provided an amazing sight--an egg (the size of a goose egg) that was just hatching when it was eternally preserved.  Inside is a perfect, tiny crocodile skeleton, folded up as if it were just waiting to free itself from the eggshell right at that moment.  It's feet have complete, very tiny, claws.  It even has teeth fully-formed in its mouth.  I wish I could have taken a photo because I've never seen anything like this before.
One wall has an early Egyptian calendar laid out in intricate detail showing each day of each month.

Egyptian calendar carved on temple wall

A round disk represents the sun, so the day, while hieroglyphs signifying numbers spell out each specific day.  Egyptians used a 365 day calendar, broken into 3-week long months, with some months being 31 days and others, shorter.

medical tools of ancient Egypt

Another wall is covered with medical tools and, apparently, recipes for tinctures and potions for treating disease.  The tools include scalpels, scissors, a charming little tube for giving enemas, which our guide proudly proclaimed were invented by Egyptians, needles and so on.  There is a stone chair for childbirth, in which the mother crouches over a hole.  Below, a midwife is perched to catch the baby.  It all looks excruciatingly uncomfortable, but probably effective.
We continued cruising last night towards Luxor, stopping at Edfu sometime during the night.  The temple is truly an astonishing sight--so huge and beautifully preserved.  The temple was filled by blowing sand from the frequent sandstorms before Roman times and was used by Romans for cooking, so the ceiling is black from the smoke.  The sand is what preserved the intricately carved friezes inside.

main entrance to Edfu temple

We left the boat early so that we could be the first visitors this morning, and that paid off.  No one else was there.  We took horse-drawn carriages to the site, which would have been a fun way to see the town, but the horses were too poorly cared for to make this enjoyable.  In fact, I wouldn't do this again.  Next time, we'll use tuk tuks.  I don't want to support mistreatment of animals in any way.  Our guide refuses to use the carriages himself because of the skinny horses and constantly beating whips.  I agree with him.  Later, near Luxor, we walked through some luscious farmlands bright green with wheat, animal fodder and vegetables, and found animals much better cared-for than the poor horses in Edfu.

giant columns scarred by cooking fires

The Edfu temple is surrounded by walls so high you feel like an ant as you walk along the long, open corridor between the temple and outer walls.  Everything is covered with friezes, including one series showing Horus capturing and killing his uncle, who is considered to be Satan.  Inside, there is an entire room devoted to pharmaceuticals, with all the walls covered by carvings depicting medical tools and remedies.  Absolutely fascinating to see a little piece of 3000 year old medical science.

figure of ibis

Priests had to be scientists of doctors.  Only they and the pharaoh could go into the inner sanctum of the temples.  Everyone else gathered outside in large courtyards to worship.  While temples are monochromatic beige today, every inch was brightly colored in their heyday, with reds, blues, greens, yellows and more.  They were meant to impress the villagers and farmers, who came to worship the gods at one of the many festivals, with their immensity and glory, thereby keeping the common people in awe of the kings, priests and gods and afraid to challenge their authority.

soldier with belly

In this temple, you can see the beginnings of figures taking shapes, showing muscles, breasts, buttocks, bellies and belly buttons and a little bit of perspective.

schoolchildren visiting Edfu Temple

Leaving the temple, we ran into large groups of schoolchildren who shouted "hello" and wanted to high-five us.  One group sang us a song of welcome.

Horus killing Satan (the little creature at the bottom of the frieze)