Kom Ombo

Our last stop of the day is the Kom Ombo temple; locate just steps from the Nile bank, between Aswan and Edfu.

This temple is unique as a result of unification of two adjacent temples, each dedicated to a distinct divinity: the crocodile-headed Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, and Haroeris or the ancient falcon-headed Horus, the solar war god. The temple was called both "House of the Crocodile" and "Castle of the Falcon". The right side is dedicated to the Crocodile and the left to the Falcon.

The main sight at Kom Ombo is the beautiful Outer Hypostyle Hall, with 15 thick columns topped with floral capitals and a cornice decorated with carved winged sun-discs. The bases of the columns bear the heraldic lily of Upper Egypt and the papyrus symbol of the Nile Delta. More details of this temple can be found here.

It was a different experience as we arrived to this location at night and the temple was lighted up. The “wow” factor was there. We couldn’t see too much of the craving or even colors due to the surrounding darkness. But what a sight from the river bank!