Nov 03 – Edfu and Kom Ombu

Mary wasn’t feeling well this morning so stayed in.  Earl missed the tour as well.  Paul and the group headed to Edfu to explore the Temple of Edfu.  It is one of the best-preserved shrines in Egypt and dates to the mid-200 BC.  It is the second largest temple in Egypt after Karnak.  

Paul got some shots of the town as they were driving to the temple.

Edfu had a lot of the usual elements that we have seen elsewhere…massive entrance structure…

forecourt surrounded by colonnades,

the Hypostyle halls with lots of columns,

and the temples and hieroglypics. 

The inner sanctuary had a replica of a wooden barque (boat) that was used to take the statue of Horus out for processions (the original is in the Louvre in Paris).

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More Temple of Edfu
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We all had lunch on the boat as it sailed to the next port. 

Mary took a long nap and missed the second half of sightseeing for the day.  Next stop was the nearby Temple of Kom Ombu that dates to about 100 BCE.  This temple was dedicated to Haroeris (oldest form of the falcon-headed God Horus) and also to the crocodile God Sobek. 

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More Temple of Kom Ombu
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And nearby the visited the Crocodile Museum where they saw many crocodile mummies.  A bit gruesome.