Edfu, Egypt - Temple at Kom Ombo and Temple of Horus at Edfu
(text by Chris J., Kim G. and Chris M.)
As we waited in the lobby of the boat for our guide, I head back to the room to put some valuables out of site and as I'm walking past the desk on the way back they hand me the phone. It totally throws me off that a) I have a phone call and b) how did the desk know who I am? The call ends up being from our local Memphis Tour contact, who between the language barrier and the noise from the crowd in the lobby, all I get from the conversation is "8 and 11". I assume it had something to do with our trip to Hurghada in two days, oh well, we'll just see what happens!
Our guide from the day before in Aswan meets us Kom Ombo, apparently having driven there, while we were cruising to Kom Ombo on the boat. We visited two temples today. The Temple of Kom Ombo is a twin temple to Sobek and Haroeris. Interesting sites here were the carvings of the surgical tools, the alligator mummies (Sobek was the alligator god) and our first siting of the "Nilometer", which was basically a well connected to an underwater passageway to the Nile that rises and falls with the Nile to determine the tax rate for the season. The temple also had a nice calendar showing the harvest seasons. The temple was only 5 minutes from where the boat docked.
Sail to Edfu.
Temple of Horus. Our guide meets us again and we take a 10 minute carriage ride to the temple. Only items that really stood out were the flag holders out front for what must have been 40-50' tall flags. A local temple guide shows me the Nilometer and sneaks a picture of me in the chamber. I also learned not to sit on the outside of the carriage, as a spray of mystery liquid from a pool we hit in the road runs up my pant legs. Chris gets a good laugh as he holds on tight for the ride there and our guide kids him about overreacting, but low and behold, on the way back we hit a hole in the road and she almost falls out but Chris ends up grabbing her before she falls.
At Edfu is the temple of Horus, the falcon-god built by Ptolemy III in 237 BC and finished 200 years later by Ptolemy XIII (father of Cleopatra). Edfu temple is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. It is devoted to the ancient falcon-god, Horus. The inner walls of the enclosure depict the story of how Horus was conceived from parts of his father, Osiris, god of the underworld. Seth chopped Osiris up into little pieces and cast his parts into the Nile. Isis used her magic to restore Osiris to life only to have Seth do the same again. The second time Isis was unable to restore Osiris, so she used the parts to conceive Horus. Horus later slays Seth (now in the form of a miniature hippo) but looses an eye in the battle. The eye of Horus is an important religious symbol in ancient Egyptian theology."
Chris bargains for a Galabeyya outfit in a store just outside the boat. We have dinner and then dress for the party. We run into "Chinese Elvis" who I catch a photo with beforehand. We have a few beers. I win a massage in the raffle and we dance for a bit. The Asian group definitely had the most fun. Chris cut a rug for a good part of the night.
We discover the bad part of the cruise in that the Esna lock to Luxor is closed. We cannot sail all the way to Luxor, but have to stay in Edfu, which is a really small town. Luxor is about an hour van ride away and we have to shuttle back and forth from there.
(text by Chris J., Kim G. and Chris M.)
As we waited in the lobby of the boat for our guide, I head back to the room to put some valuables out of site and as I'm walking past the desk on the way back they hand me the phone. It totally throws me off that a) I have a phone call and b) how did the desk know who I am? The call ends up being from our local Memphis Tour contact, who between the language barrier and the noise from the crowd in the lobby, all I get from the conversation is "8 and 11". I assume it had something to do with our trip to Hurghada in two days, oh well, we'll just see what happens!
Our guide from the day before in Aswan meets us Kom Ombo, apparently having driven there, while we were cruising to Kom Ombo on the boat. We visited two temples today. The Temple of Kom Ombo is a twin temple to Sobek and Haroeris. Interesting sites here were the carvings of the surgical tools, the alligator mummies (Sobek was the alligator god) and our first siting of the "Nilometer", which was basically a well connected to an underwater passageway to the Nile that rises and falls with the Nile to determine the tax rate for the season. The temple also had a nice calendar showing the harvest seasons. The temple was only 5 minutes from where the boat docked.
Sail to Edfu.
Temple of Horus. Our guide meets us again and we take a 10 minute carriage ride to the temple. Only items that really stood out were the flag holders out front for what must have been 40-50' tall flags. A local temple guide shows me the Nilometer and sneaks a picture of me in the chamber. I also learned not to sit on the outside of the carriage, as a spray of mystery liquid from a pool we hit in the road runs up my pant legs. Chris gets a good laugh as he holds on tight for the ride there and our guide kids him about overreacting, but low and behold, on the way back we hit a hole in the road and she almost falls out but Chris ends up grabbing her before she falls.
At Edfu is the temple of Horus, the falcon-god built by Ptolemy III in 237 BC and finished 200 years later by Ptolemy XIII (father of Cleopatra). Edfu temple is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. It is devoted to the ancient falcon-god, Horus. The inner walls of the enclosure depict the story of how Horus was conceived from parts of his father, Osiris, god of the underworld. Seth chopped Osiris up into little pieces and cast his parts into the Nile. Isis used her magic to restore Osiris to life only to have Seth do the same again. The second time Isis was unable to restore Osiris, so she used the parts to conceive Horus. Horus later slays Seth (now in the form of a miniature hippo) but looses an eye in the battle. The eye of Horus is an important religious symbol in ancient Egyptian theology."
Chris bargains for a Galabeyya outfit in a store just outside the boat. We have dinner and then dress for the party. We run into "Chinese Elvis" who I catch a photo with beforehand. We have a few beers. I win a massage in the raffle and we dance for a bit. The Asian group definitely had the most fun. Chris cut a rug for a good part of the night.
We discover the bad part of the cruise in that the Esna lock to Luxor is closed. We cannot sail all the way to Luxor, but have to stay in Edfu, which is a really small town. Luxor is about an hour van ride away and we have to shuttle back and forth from there.
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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