The Temple of kom ombo - Detailed description1

Detail of a column carving at the remains of The temple of kom ombo

The Temple known as The Temple of kom ombo is actually two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a Temple of

Haroeris

(Horus the god The Elder).
In Ancient times, sacred

crocodiles in Ancient Egypt

basked in the sun on the River bank near here.
The Temple of kom ombo has scant remains, due first to the changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as a church, and finally by builders who used the stones for new buildings.
Everything is duplicated along the main axis.
There are two entrances, two courts, two colonades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries.
There were probably even two sets of priests.
The left, or northern side is dedicated to

Haroeris

(sometimes called Harer, Horus the god the Elder) who was the falcon headed sky god and the right to Sobek (the corcodile headed god).

The outer shape
Foundations are all that are left of the original Pylon.
Beyond the Pylon, there was once a staircase in the court that lead to a roof terrace.
The large structure on the right is the Gate of Neos Dionysos (

Ptolemy

XII, or

Ptolemy

XIII).
The court
The court must have been quite lovely, with its sixteen painted columns on three sides.
Now only the base and the lower part are left, with, at the center, the remains of the altar on which the sacred bark was placed during processions.

The court has a columned portico and central altar.
There is a scene of the King leaving his palace escorted by standards.
Near the sanctuary is a purification scene.
On either side of the door to the pronaos are columns inscribed with icons of the lotus (south) and papyrus (north), symbolizing the 'two lands'

of

Egypt

.
In the southwest corner of the pronaos is the one column that does not echo the duality of the temples.
Here, there are scenes depicting purification of the King, his coronation and his consecration of the Temple.
The ceiling has astronomical images.
The reliefs on the columns show the emperor Tiberius, whose name is cut into the cartouches which accompany the figures, as he makes offering to the gods.
The north part of the court is closed by the exterior wall of the first hypostyle hall.
The two entrances that correspond to the temples of

Haroeris

and of Sobek open in this wall.
On either side of the doors,

Ptolemy

XII Neo Dionysos is shown purified by Horus the god, Thot and

Haroeris

(in the part on the left) and by Horus the god, Thot and Sobek on the right.

	Detail of a column carving at the remains of The temple of kom ombo
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