Kom Ombo A site south of EDFU on the Nile that served as the cultic center for the deities HORUS the Elder and SOBEK, Kom Ombo was also a major center of Egyptian TRADE with the Red Sea and Nubian (modern Sudanese) cultures. Eighteenth Dynasty (1550–1307B.C.E.) structures made Kom Ombo important, but there were also settlements from the Paleolithic Period in the area.
The temple of Haroeris (HORUS) and SOBEK was a double structure, with identical sections, the northern one for Haroeris and the southern one for Sobek. There was also a shrine to HATHOR on the site. The complex was dedicated as well to KHONS (1). Tasenetnofret, an obscure goddess called “the Good Sister,” and Pnebtawy, called“the Lord of the Two Lands,” were honored as well at Kom Ombo.
A double entrance is in the southwest, leading to a courtyard. Two HYPOSTYLE HALLS, offering halls, twin sanctuaries, magazines, vestibules, wells, and birth houses, called MAMMISI, compose the elements of the temple. The main temple is Ptolemaic in its present form, with a gate fashioned by PTOLEMY XII Auletes (r. 80–58, 55–51 B.C.E.). Niches and crypts were also included, and mummies of CROCODILES were found, wearing golden earrings, manicures, and gilded nails. A NILOMETER was installed at Kom Ombo, and CALENDARS and portraits of the Ptolemys adorned the walls.
Temple of Sobek and Horus at Kom Ombo
From
Bunson (M. R.), Encyclopedia of ancient Egypt, New York, 2002.
Temple of Kom Ombo
Papyrus shaped columns at Kom Ombo temple
The gate to access to the sanctuary of Sobek
Column details at Kom Ombo
Relief stone outside the temple
Nilometer outside the temple
A double entrance is in the southwest, leading to a courtyard. Two HYPOSTYLE HALLS, offering halls, twin sanctuaries, magazines, vestibules, wells, and birth houses, called MAMMISI, compose the elements of the temple. The main temple is Ptolemaic in its present form, with a gate fashioned by PTOLEMY XII Auletes (r. 80–58, 55–51 B.C.E.). Niches and crypts were also included, and mummies of CROCODILES were found, wearing golden earrings, manicures, and gilded nails. A NILOMETER was installed at Kom Ombo, and CALENDARS and portraits of the Ptolemys adorned the walls.