Egypt – Nile Cruise Aswan to Luxor – Edfu stop
Our Day 4
Cruise sailed at 12 to 4AM and reached small town of Kom Ombo is situated on the East side of the Nile, 45 kilometers to the North of the city of Aswan, about 800 kilometers to the South of Cairo. Seems like all the cruises have same schedule. A 5 min walk to this temple called “Temple of Kom Ombo”. Temple is shared by 2 gods. God Sobek – God of strength and power, God Haroeris (Horus) – God of light
Temple of Kom Ombo
The people of ancient Egypt worshiped crocodiles while both loving and fearing them. They were a symbol of power, virility and fertility. As the Crocodile God, Sobek protected the Egyptian army, the pharaohs, and the ancient Egyptian people. His strength and courage allowed the Pharaoh to overcome obstacles and also protected him from evil magic.
Horus the falcon god was Egypt’s first national god worshiped by all of Egypt. Horus was also known as: Sun God or War God or falcon God. Horus is always seen as the ruler of the gods represented by a falcon.
Medical kit for Doctors and a women delivering baby
Slaves tied and a falcon all over the temple…
Pedestals of Sobek and Horus
A quick stop to a crocodile museum near by the temple, where mummies of huge crocodiles are there.
Shops while walking to the cruise
Relaxing break on the cruise while sailing to Edfu.
A 5 course meal served for Lunch. Awesome food taste wise and variety.
Temple of Edfu – Temple of Horus
Reached Edfu by the time we finished lunch on the cruise. A small ride to Temple of Horus in a horse driven cart.
The temple, dedicated to the falcon god Horus. The Temple of Edfu is the second largest temple in Egypt built with sandstone blocks. It seems it took close to 180 years to complete the construction of the Temple of Horus.
The Temple of Edfu is comprised of a main entrance, a courtyard and a chapel.
The most striking features of the Temple of Horus are the gigantic pylons that stand at the entrance to the temple. At 118 feet high, they are decorated with battle scenes of King Ptolemy VIII defeating his enemies for Horus. As the tallest of the surviving Egyptian temples, the pylons also contain four large grooves that would have been used to anchor flags.
Pillars are huge and imagining the temple is build around 200BC .
Edfu town
Few experiences in the Nile Cruise today.
1. Cruise crew bring down the Gazebos on the top deck as it is high tide and while going under the bridge. We try to touch the bridge by jumping, but timing was not there…:)
2. Esna Lock : Sail through the Esna lock in Upper Egypt, where the water level is high on one side and low on other side. so cruise goes in to a small gates and they bring the water down or up to match the level. In our case we were going form high to low, so cruise went 3 levels down.
3. Beautiful evening light for photography
Crew Performance
Crew performance and Oriental show “Gallabia party”.
Dinner Time
Entering the Esna lock and the water levels in the net pictures shows the cruise going down.
