Kom Ombo & Edfu Holidays

The temple at Kom Ombo is a double temple that was dedicated to two distinct divinities - the crocodile-headed Sibek, god of fertility and creator of the world and Haroeris or the ancient falcon-headed Horus, the solar war god. Each of the two gods has their own entrance, court, chambers colonnade and sanctuary. The unusual double temple with its perfect symmetry, is still striking to see, despite the incomplete buildings, which have been destroyed over time by the Nile, earthquakes, Copts that used it as a church and builders who used the stones for other buildings. South of the main temple is the Roman Chapel of Hathor, dedicated to the wife of Horus.

The Temple of Horus at Edfu has the distinction of being the largest and most completely preserved pharaonic, albeit Greek-built, temple in Egypt, it was one of the last monumental temples built on a large scale. Though much newer than the temples of Karnak and Luxor, its excellent state of structural preservation fills in a lot of historical gaps because it is, in effect, a 2000 year old replica of an architectural style that was already age-old during Ptolemaic times. The entrance to the temple is guarded by two massive granite falcons and once inside the court, there is a colonnade of 32 decorated columns. Be sure to have a look at the Hall of Consecrations, the Passage of Victory and the great Hypostyle Hall with its two antechambers.