Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo is home to an unusual double temple built during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (300-80 B.C.) ending with Cleopatra, who is mentioned in some of the hieroglyphics. The temple is dedicated to the crocodile-headed god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, and the falcon-headed Haroeris (Horus the Elder), the solar war god. The temple is located on a bend in the east bank of the Nile and about 20 miles north of Aswan. This area was once a home to a large number of crocodiles, which were held to be sacred. The only crocodiles in-sight, now, are mummified and located in the chapel of Hathor within the temple.

The temple was excavated last century with parts lost into the Nile and to an earthquake in 1992. The temple has two of everything, to accommodate the two gods, and among the projections on the walls, in detail, are sets of medical instruments carved into the stone. The crocodile-headed god Sobek wears a crown of double plumes which are located on top of horizontal ram’s horns. A sun disk sits at the center base of the plumes, and uraei (rearing cobras) rest on each side. Also visible in the temple are well-preserved bases of walls that allow you to see how the Egyptians got the stone blocks so close to one another by using water and wooden inserts.

Sources

Crocodile-Headed God Sobek http://www.memst.edu/egypt/komombo.htm

Kom Ombo http://stop-the-hate.org/egypt/kom_ombo.html

Kom Ombo http://www.kent.wednet.edu/curriculum/soc_studies/Egypt/kom_ombo.html

Kom Ombo http://www.horus.demon.co.uk/Nile/KomOmbo.html

Kom Ombo http://www.powerup.com.au/~ancient/kom_ombo.htm

Chad Bisek