Travels with Alyx: The Temples of Luxor

At 7:30 this morning we disembarked from our felucca and met up with the group that had stayed at the hotel the previous two night. Kom-Ombo was our first stop of the day. The ancient name meant “built on a city of gold” because this most of the gold from ancient times came from this area. It was built during the Greco- Roman era and it is a double temple. It is dedicated to Horus, the falcon god of the sky, and to Sobek, the Nile crocodile god. There once was a smaller temple in the area that was dedicated just to Sobek. It was the Romans who came and built a bigger temple on the site and added the worship of Horus. The priests of Sobek were angry and closed the shrine of Horus and his worshippers left and built the Temple of Horus on another site. Ma’at, goddess of Justice and truth returned the worship of Horus to the area and it became a double temple.

Kom-ombo

Most of the temple have been lost to time and the elements but it was also damaged by the Ottoman king Muhammad Ali. He used stones from the monument as building materials for a sugar factory. If the temple had remained intact, it would be the second largest in Egypt. In fact, the temple used to have a second floor. There were secret corridors under the floor that the priests used to communicate with the worshippers who were in the waiting room that had the ability to amplify the priests voices. This was how the priests convinced the people that they were communicating with the gods.

Behind the mud break walls that protect the temple archaeologists discovered mummified crocodiles, which are now displayed in the on- site crocodile museum. There is also an area on the temple grounds where the priests kept a living crocodile. There was also a small well room and a large well room. The large well room had tunnels connecting it to the Nile, which is how they caught the crocodile.

Mummified crocodile

This stela in the Crocodile museum depicts Sobek

The pit where they kept a living crocodile as a representative of Sobek

It is a nearly two hour drive to our next stop. We drive through miles of desert, but this time humanity intrudes more often, passing vegetable stands, convenience stores, and schools. We finally arrive at the city of Edfu, which is teeming with people. The roads are packed dirt. Apartment buildings several stories high and dusty store fronts offering all types of items crowd the streets. In Edfu we arrive at our second stop of the day, the Temple of Horus. This is the most intact temple left and is the second largest after the Temple at Karnak. It is intact because it is below street level and until the 1800s, it was completely covered by dirt. It was discovered accidentally when a farmer was walking his donkey and the donkey fell through the ground.

The Temple of Horus

This falcon statue is not part of the original construction. It was added at a much later time.

Empty cartouches surround the open courtyard because the Romans who carved the stones could not decide who was going to rule Egypt. The pictures on the wall show the king’s journey to find the place to build a temple for the god Horus. Then the king and the god together lay the foundation stone for the temple. The staircases in the waiting room are for entry and exit to the second floor. The entry stairs spiral up to mimic the flight of a falcon. The exit stairs go straight down to mimic how a falcon dives to the ground. The statue of the sacred goat in the shrine is not the original. The original was still here when the temple was excavated, but it was moved into a room behind the shrine, where it remained for years until it disappeared. There is a warren of corridors and at least a dozen rooms behind the shrine.

The shrine inside of the temple

The passage of victory at the Temple of Horus

Horus capturing Set

At night we went to see Luxor Temple. The ancient name of Luxor Temple meant “the house of women”. Like Karnak, this is a temple of Amun- Ra, even though it is only 3 km away from Karnak. Amenhotep III built this temple to show that he is the divine son of Amun- Ra and Hathor. He was not of royal blood, and needed a stronger connection to the gods. The temple was built from the inside out. Amenhotep, Hatshepsut, Seti I and Ramses II all added to the temple. The main part of the temple that we see was constructed by Ramses II.

Luxor Temple

There were originally two obelisks in front of the temple, but one was given away to France by Muhammad Ali. For centuries, due to Nile floods, the temple was partly covered by silt. This site has significance to various religions. Two centuries ago, while the temple was still mostly underground and covered with silt, a mosque was constructed on the site. Various churches have been built at this location throughout time. The temple was also used as a church by the ancient Romans when they had conquered Egypt. It was used as a church until AD 580.