Contiki Egypt & The Nile: Day 4 – Kom Ombo

The Crocodile Temple, also known as Kom Ombo or the Temple of Two Gods, was a very unique place.  Despite the heat, we ventured off the boat to check out the temple which was located right off the water.

The temple itself is unusual as it is dedicated to two gods – Sobek (the crocodile god) & Horus (the falcon god.  Sobek is the god of the Nile and is credited with creating the world while Horus is the god of the sky and protector of the king. We first visited the side of the temple dedicated to Horus, the falcon god.

Horus, the falcon god, is depicted with the body of a human & the head of a falcon

Sobek is shown with the head of a crocodile & the body of a man.

Construction on the temple began around 150 BC & most of the temple has, unfortunately, given way to the forces of nature.  That being said, what was left in the temple was remarkably in tact.  We were able to follow some of the stories depicted with the help of our trip manager, Sherif, and some of the original colors were still on the walls!

At the end of the tour, we were able to go into a room and see the remains of mummified crocodiles which still had the wrapping around their bodies.

The visit to the temple was an amazing experience that will definitely be a highlight of the trip.  This temple is not something we learned about in World History in high school, so it was great to see something I’d never even heard of before!

That night, we had our “Dress Like An Egyptian” party in the dining room of our boat.  I donned the outfit I purchased in the markets & had a great time relaxing with the people on my tour.