Travel Down The Nile
Sightseeing
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Here is a shot of the entrance to the temple.
Last night we traveled down the Nile and ascended a lock
in the river. I was not aware of locks in the Nile, but it makes perfect
sense when you think about it. When we woke up, we were in Edfu, which is
about halfway between Luxor and Aswan. After breakfast, we took a bus to the
Temple of Horus at Edfu. This was a great experience as there was hardly
anyone there when we arrived, so it felt like we had the place to ourselves,
and this temple is huge—something akin to a large cathedral.
Here is a shot of me and a temple guard at Kom Ombo.
From Julia: Edfu was so magical. We thought of it like a
giant newspaper or bible written on stone, with every spot on the walls
and pillars covered in pictures and writing.
What you can find in a hieroglyphic.
The Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy was
trying to convince Egyptians he was the rightful ruler descended from the
god Horus, so he built this vast temple, covering it with his propaganda. It
was also buried under sand for a long time, which kept it well-preserved over the
centuries. It was fantastic.
Perhaps a descendant of the Pharaoh's cat.
After lunch on our ship, we continued traveling down the
Nile to Kom Ombo and its temple. Julia and I lounged on the deck of the ship,
using our binoculars to observe the many birds that live on the banks of the
Nile. At Kom Ombo, we once again had the temple to ourselves, with only one other
tour group present. The temple is right on the banks of the Nile, and in the
afternoon light, it was simply beautiful.
One of the guides pointed out to us a very unique hieroglyphic
of a woman giving birth, for which we paid him one Egyptian pound.
From Julia: At this site, there were many feral cats,
which we easily imagined to be descendants of the ancient Egyptian
cats. We watched one slink around the stones much like his ancestors
must have thousands of years ago.
It's another beautiful place.
Edfu Video
Kom Ombo Video