Day 22 - Saturday November 15, 2025 Sailing the Nile - Temple of Kom Ombo

By Ellen Outten

 

The temple of Kom Ombo. 

We left the ship at 7:45 after breakfast for a short walk to this temple.  Wayne stayed behind this morning and relaxed.  He likes seeing the temples, but our guide, Sam, is very detailed; loves his subject and has great talks while we stand and listen to him. I have my chair/cane. Which allows me to sit while Sam talks. Wayne has to stand and it doesn’t always allow him the chance to rest. Our tours are usually a minimum of two hours.  He’s at the point of looking at temples and thinking one looks just like the others.

This temple dates to 200 BC and the Greek / Roman period of time.  

Once again our guide was fantastic walking us through the temple.  

The  temple is dedicated to two deities: the crocodile god Sobek and the falcon-headed god Horus.  t

Sobek was the fertility god associated with water, floods, and vegetation. He was worshipped here alongside his wife, Hathor, the goddess of love and motherhood, and their son, Khonsu, the moon god.

They even mummified crocodiles and there are 22 of them on display.    I think the concept was that there were many crocodiles in the Nile at the time and to worship them and build a temple to them would keep them from harm.  

There are no crocodiles in the Nile presently but there were in Lake Nassar where we sailed first.  No, I never saw any.  

The second side of the temple dedicated to motherhood also showed us their knowledge of medicine.  Some of the hieroglyphics showed evidence of surgical tools, and birthing chairs.  

Here are the pictures from this mornings visit 


Our first view of the temple from 200 BC discovered in situ and not moved here

Burial coffins for crocodiles 

Some of the carvings on the temple columns 



The clarity of the raised carvings, all dating to 200 BC



Sam, our guide and his depth of knowledge!



Sam explained that this was one of the earliest calendars and was able to show us the days in the month.  The Roman’s were first to understand the solar calendar.  Their year had 12 months with 30 days each, but 3 weeks with 10 days each. Then they added one month, a 13th, with only 5 days to get to 365 days.  They also understood leap year and every 4th year, they added a 6th day.



Close look will show scalpels, stethoscopes, and other medical tools. In the left us a woman giving birth in a birthing chair 


Near the end of our tour, there was a well where baby crocodiles swam in when the river was high. They were fed and taken care of.
The well in which the baby crocodiles would get trapped swimming in from the Nile

View of the Nile from the Temple area


Mummified crocodiles 


Mummified crocodile 

Back on board, we were to sail on toward Luxor and visit another temple this afternoon.  They have a gift shop on board and I’m happy to shop rather than having all the vendors crawling all over you, men, children everyone trying to get your attention and some getting very close and walking beside you.  Wayne had a hard time shaking one a few days ago.  In the gift store you can haggle but don’t feel overwhelmed.

I bought a gallabya, a long dress, for dinner dress up night.  I had to baste it up until I get home and shorten it properly.


This afternoon, the tables turned, and I decided to not take the tour and just stay on board ship and relax.  I believe we still have nine days left before seeing the US again. And while the walk this morning to the temple wasn’t all that far, there were a number of steps To get inside the temple. In addition, being on the second floor of this ship means every time I go to the room I travel steps and the restaurant is in the lowest level some more steps. It’s time to get serious about this knee replacement. come next May..    I’ve only done 4900 steps so far today but two Tylenol and rest seem really good to me right now.


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