ASWAN, EGYPT
As I didn't need Hossam's services yesterday, he chose to stay home with his wife in Luxor rather than cruise the Nile with me (the slacker!). Then last night he drove from Luxor to Edfu and boarded the boat, and met up with me this morning for some more sightseeing.
Immediately upon disembarking, we were picked up by a horse-drawn carriage which took us through town to our first stop, Edfu Temple. This seemed to me like a completely unnecessary extravagance, and the ride was probably less than ten minutes, but whatever. I guess the clip-clopping and the sleighbells did add a certain ambience to the journey, although really it just made me think of Christmas.
At any rate, the temple was interesting. It's known for being the best-preserved one in Egypt, as it was completely buried under the sand until the late 1800s. That in itself is pretty remarkable, considering how tall it is--must have been quite a dig! It's also notable for being built not by Egyptians per se but by the Greeks(!) in the 1st Century BC, during the Ptolomaic dynasty. The temple is dedicated to Horus, the falcon god, so there were some cool falcon statues about, as well as lots of scenes carved into the walls featuring Horus, Ptolemy, and Horus' arch-enemy Seth, who for some reason here takes the form of a tiny hippo. There were also lots of interior chambers, a hypostyle hall, and a marble enclosure meant to house a golden statue of Horus, which unfortunately is now missing.
Then it was back to the boat, and we continued on up the Nile. Around 4:30 (right after teatime) we came to a hill at a bend in the river and the temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to Horus (again) and Sobek, the crocodile god. This was the smallest temple I've seen so far, but it had some great columns and carvings, including some of the legend herself, Cleopatra. Believe it or not, she really did look a bit like Elizabeth Taylor! I am so serious.
Other interesting features of the temple: a number of mummified crocs (in honor of Sobek), and carvings that demonstrate the Egyptians' great skill in medicine, depicting a whole range of modern-looking surgical instruments including scalpels, suction cups, scissors, sponges, and even a bone saw! Next to this are some hieroglyphs listing the ingredients needed to make a type of medicine--this is apparently often referred to as "the first prescription in history."
As I walked around the temple admiring the carvings, the sun went down over the Nile in a beautiful orange sunset and a bright half-moon appeared in the sky. As the sky got darker, scores of bats flew out and around the temple before heading off to wherever it is that bats go at night, and lights came on illuminating the temple ruins. Quite a dramatic scene, and very cool to see.
As I didn't need Hossam's services yesterday, he chose to stay home with his wife in Luxor rather than cruise the Nile with me (the slacker!). Then last night he drove from Luxor to Edfu and boarded the boat, and met up with me this morning for some more sightseeing.
Immediately upon disembarking, we were picked up by a horse-drawn carriage which took us through town to our first stop, Edfu Temple. This seemed to me like a completely unnecessary extravagance, and the ride was probably less than ten minutes, but whatever. I guess the clip-clopping and the sleighbells did add a certain ambience to the journey, although really it just made me think of Christmas.
At any rate, the temple was interesting. It's known for being the best-preserved one in Egypt, as it was completely buried under the sand until the late 1800s. That in itself is pretty remarkable, considering how tall it is--must have been quite a dig! It's also notable for being built not by Egyptians per se but by the Greeks(!) in the 1st Century BC, during the Ptolomaic dynasty. The temple is dedicated to Horus, the falcon god, so there were some cool falcon statues about, as well as lots of scenes carved into the walls featuring Horus, Ptolemy, and Horus' arch-enemy Seth, who for some reason here takes the form of a tiny hippo. There were also lots of interior chambers, a hypostyle hall, and a marble enclosure meant to house a golden statue of Horus, which unfortunately is now missing.
Then it was back to the boat, and we continued on up the Nile. Around 4:30 (right after teatime) we came to a hill at a bend in the river and the temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to Horus (again) and Sobek, the crocodile god. This was the smallest temple I've seen so far, but it had some great columns and carvings, including some of the legend herself, Cleopatra. Believe it or not, she really did look a bit like Elizabeth Taylor! I am so serious.
Other interesting features of the temple: a number of mummified crocs (in honor of Sobek), and carvings that demonstrate the Egyptians' great skill in medicine, depicting a whole range of modern-looking surgical instruments including scalpels, suction cups, scissors, sponges, and even a bone saw! Next to this are some hieroglyphs listing the ingredients needed to make a type of medicine--this is apparently often referred to as "the first prescription in history."
As I walked around the temple admiring the carvings, the sun went down over the Nile in a beautiful orange sunset and a bright half-moon appeared in the sky. As the sky got darker, scores of bats flew out and around the temple before heading off to wherever it is that bats go at night, and lights came on illuminating the temple ruins. Quite a dramatic scene, and very cool to see.
posted by John Kuge at 7:10 PM
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