KOM OMBO...

Life on the Nile river starts early...not much respect for the fact that it’s my birthday. We set sail just after five in the morning. Fortunately we could sleep through most of it.

I loved the relaxed atmosphere of the boat and the almost family feeling as you get to know the faces of the other guests. The boat was not very full but there was a fairly large Japanese group and a French group.

Breakfast was at 7 so another early morning.

Our first stop was in Kom Ombo. The temple is unusual because it is a double temple built to two gods Horus the elder and Sobek. That being said it is therefore a unique temple because its design means that there were halls, courts, rooms and sanctuaries built for the two Gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the god of fertility, the creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu…Sorbek…….the god with the crocodile head. That means that the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon God Horus. When we get to Edfu I am going to tell you a little bit more about him.

The temple is further unusual because just about every part of it is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis. The temple is stunning. The columns were cut down at one point but in places you can see some of the original colour and it is simple beautiful. Sadly much of the temple was destroyed by the Nile and the big earthquake.  Then later the builders used its stones for other projects.

The first known calendar is carved into one of the walls and the piece left is....March!! Since it was my birthday it was kinda special. We saw carvings of the tools used in mummification. The first medical equipment in history. They even had injections people....INJECTIONS!!!!! Anbus (the one with the jackal head) the god of mummification can be seen on several of the walls but this temple was mainly used for the worshiping of Horus and Sobek.  In the museum nearby we saw petrified crocodiles and also some of the three hundred crocodiles which had been mummified. It’s a little freaky but so cool. 

We then came back on board for some free time. Meg and I sat upstairs on the roof for about an hour before the heat chased us inside. After lunch we had sailed to Edfu……..come back soon and I will tell you more!!!

The first calender with....14 March

Medical equipment

This was the first temple where we saw glimpses of colour and it made us
desperate for more....we were very excited for the Valley of the Kings

Mummy crocodiles..