Surrounded by fields of sugar cane and corn, Kom Ombo is a pleasant agricultural town, home to many Nubians displaced by the creation of Lake Nasser. The town's ruined yet imposing Greco-Roman temple is in a particularly beautiful setting overlooking the Nile.
The temple building is totally symmetrical with two entrances, two halls and two sanctuaries. This unusual structure is the result of the temple's dedication to two gods. The left side to the falcon god Haroeris (Horus the Elder) and the right side to Sobek, the local crocodile god. The construction of the temple was begun by Ptolemy VI Philometer in the 2nd century BC and mostly completed by Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus during the 1st century BC. Finally the Roman Emperor Augustus added the entrance pylon in around 30 BC.
From the largely ruined forecourt, two doors lead to the hypostyle hall, which contains scenes relating to Haroeris on the left wall and Sobek on the right. The many columns are carved with the lotus or lily of Upper Egypt and the Papyrus of the Delta. A series of halls and vestibules leads through the sanctuaries of Haroeris and Sobek. The Chapel of Hathor, just to the south of the temple, now houses a few crocodile mummies from the nearby crocodile necropolis.
Many people came to the temples for healing. This inscription on the floor of the courtyard (in the common hieratic rather than the royal hyroglific) is an insurance policy for those wishing to hedge their bets on the success of their treatment.
These cut keys give an indication of how the buildings were constructed. The course of stones to be placed on top of this course would have corresponding protrusions carved so that when placed together the whole structure would be stronger and resistant to sliding.
This panel shows some of the medical tools used in treatment of the sick or injured. Many of them bear a striking resemblance to those still in use today.
To the Right is a Roman statue left over from that era. It is a striking contrast to the traditional Egyptian art forms.
