Kom Ombo Temple, Kom Ombo, Egypt

The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt. It was constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, 180 - 47 BC. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period.

Architecture

The building is unique because its double design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris, along with Tasenetnofret. The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.

Decorations

The texts and reliefs in the temple refer to cultic liturgies which were similar to those from that time period. The temple itself had a specific theology. The characters invoked the gods of Kom Ombo and their legend. Two themes were present in this temple: the universalist theme and the local theme. The two combine to form the theology of this temple. A temple was already built in the New Kingdom to honor these gods, however, this site gained in importance during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Little remains of the New Kingdom temple. The existing temple was begun by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180–145 BC) at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemies, most notably Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (51–47 BC), who built the inner and outer hypostyles.

Current state

Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used its stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts, who once used the temple as a church. All the temples buildings in the southern part of the plateau were cleared of debris and restored by Jacques de Morgan in 1893.

References:

Wikipedia

Address

Kom Ombo, Egypt

See all sites in Kom Ombo

Details

Founded: 180-47 BC
Category: Prehistoric and archaeological sites in Egypt

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby

Philae (47,6 km)
Nubian Museum (41,6 km)
Temple of Kalabsha (55 km)
Qubbet el-Hawa (39,1 km)
Monastery of St. Simeon (40,1 km)

User Reviews

PARTHA BHATTACHARJEE (23 days ago)
Visited this temple when our cruise vessel reached Kom Ombo in late evening from Aswan. This is a unique temple of two Egyptian Gods, Sobek (crocodile faced) and Haroeris (The older Horus), probably falcon faced. The temple although ancient, dating back to 180 BC, the Ptolemic period, it is very well maintained and the carvings are excellent till date. Our guide explained the mythology attached to this temple and those can be very well studied in the net, in details. Overall we highly enjoyed the temple visit.

razorrau1 (29 days ago)
This is a very unique temple on a river boat Cruise. It has amazing architectural design to the whole complex! It is very beautiful from the inside and out with a lot of things to look at. It's amazing how well preserved and the upkeep they did on this whole temple. It was a nice little stop for a couple hours. We recommend stopping here

Travel Gtr (38 days ago)
Beautiful Greco-Roman temple for two ancient Egyptian gods. At the back of the temple, you can find an ancient "hospital" and carvings of surgical tools! Another unique aspect is the ancient Egyptian calendar, carved on the walls. Next door, is the crocodile mummies museum.

Lahiru Mendis (52 days ago)
A unique temple shared by two gods. Due to this there are two main entrances. You can see clear evidence of how wood locks used to join stones. Can see text and picture carvings on walls and ceilings. There are two wells inside the temple. One was used to measure the level of Nile floods for the purpose of deciding the tax on farmers. The other well was to collect purified water from the Nile. The crocodile museum beside the temple is also a unique place. It has mummified crocodiles which are well preserved. There are detailed explanations on the culture of mummification of crocodiles.

Austin Wu (4 months ago)
This is definitely one of my favorites temple in my Egypt trip. When we got here, it’s already nighttime. Nighttime brings this great historical building mystery and mythical feeling. Look the mural in the great pillar and wall, it continues to telling story in 4000 years until now. I really appreciate Egypt people, they are doing a great job in preserving this beautiful building. It’s built in a hill, with a good view to see a town. Just really like there was a plenty of gods lived in this majestic place.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright missbutterflies

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Kom Ombo Temple