The temples of Edfou and Kom Ombo

We left Luxor on M/S Kon-Tiki on Sunday afternoon and arrived at Edfou early the next morning. There was a several hour-long wait to get through the locks at Esna and we only finally got our turn during the night. We set out early for the temple of Edfou, being picked up by calèches on the corniche, while the relative freshness of the morning made the visit more pleasant. That afternoon the temperature climbed up to 44°C (110°F).

The temple at Edfou is the largest and the best preserved of the ptolemaic temples of Egypt. The temple is dedicated to the falcon-headed god, Horus, son of Isis and Osiris. Legend has it that the temple is on the site where Horus engaged in a ferocious batle with his fratricidal uncle, Seth.

As soon as our cruise boat docked at the corniche, a whole string of calèches were ready to convey us directly to the temple.


Calèches at the corniche	Pylon of the temple of Edfou

Courtyard, with the statue of Horus in back	Court, viewed towards the pylon

The god Horus is everywhere, not only as a beautiful statue in the court, but also in the form of reliefs of the falcon-headed god.


The statue of Horus	Relief with Horus on the left

We left Edfou on the Kon-Tiki towards mid-morning and arrived at Kom Ombo in the middle of the afternoon.


The temple of Kom Ombo lies right on the shore of the Nile	Walk up to the temple

The greco-roman temple of Kom Ombo is not nearly as well preserved as that of Edfou, but maybe that is what makes it somewhat romantic. There are many beautiful reliefs and lovely columns where one can still discern remains of colors which are twenty centuries old.


Remains of color at the top	Beautiful columns

The reliefs, in fairly good shape, are often quite interesting.


Lion-headed figures	Wall with traces of color

Many reliefs	A crocodile-headed god

A painted ceiling

Return to introduction.