Kom Ombo Temple

Above is the entrance to the next temple we visited at Kom Ombo. It is unusual because it is a double temple with the left side dedicated to the god Haroesis, the "Good Doctor" and the right side to Sobek-Re, the crocodile god.   The ancient Egyptians believed that by honoring the fearsome crocodile as a god, they would be safe from attacks.  

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/kom-ombo

Looking at the front of the temple from the side.

The columns at the beginning of the temple proper.  Below is a close up of one of the beautiful columns.

Below are a variety of pictures from the temple at Kom Ombo.  Again this is just a small selection of the many pictures that I took here.  There were some incredibly beautiful carvings/reliefs, too many to share here, at this time.

Note the very different styled skirt or kilt that this figure is wearing.  If I remember correctly, this is the type of skirt/clothing that officials from the Middle Kingdom would wear.

The only hieroglyphics that I saw that contained a cat.  

This is the god Sobek-Re.  He played such an important role in this temple that a small pool was created where sacred crocodiles were raised.  There have also been many mummified crocodiles found, even as late as the 1970's.  All of this was to ensure protection from the actual crocodiles of the Nile.    

The carved scene above shows medical instruments that were used in Ancient Egypt times.  It is said that modern day nurses and doctors can look at these instruments and recognize their modern counterpart.  I just find that totally amazing.

Notice that this fellow is wearing an animal skin skirt. It is probably a leopard skin and this type of clothing was only worn by priests and the pharaohs.

This is what the walkway from the cruise ships to the temple looked like.  You feel you are running a gauntlet of merchants - and they can be very persistent about you buying something.  I had to get much thicker skinned when walking through these areas.  It seemed that every temple we visited had something like this that you had to walk through as you left the historic site. It was the one thing that I truly did not enjoy about visiting the temples. 

One last look at Kom Ombo temple as we continue our journey to Aswan.