Kom Ombo temple

Today we cruised down the Nile, arriving at Kom Ombo temple just before sunset.

It is really surprising that although there are seven days in the week, 24 hours in each day, and at least five different stopping points on the Nile, it appears that almost all of the cruise ships chose to visit the same places at exactly the same time.

This means that most of the time the temples are completely deserted, and then for a crazy couple of hours they are completely packed!

It didn't really detract from our visit as we went without a guide, so zig zagged around the huge groups, and then stayed later after most of them were heading back to their boats.

Kom Ombo is a unique place because it is dedicated to two gods, rather than one. The crocodile god Sobek on one side, and the falcon god Horus on the other. The carvings are absolutely superb, as in this example with a crocodile head.

An amazing fact, to me anyway, is that this temple was built around 1,200 years after Hatshepsut's that we visited a couple of days ago. This means that Kom Ombo is 'only' around 2,200 years old.

It is beautifully lit after sunset so we took a few final photos and then headed to the crocodile museum.

The ancient Egyptians were keen on mummifying animals as well as people and over 300 mummified crocodiles were found near to the temple.

Some enormous ones have been unwrapped and look scary, but these are quite small and very cute looking.