I wanted to sleep until midday, but Ma woke us up very early in the morning. The sunrise looked amazing from our cabin. The room was flooded with sunlight. The boat had travelled at night and reached Kom Ombu early morning.
Kom Ombu is the biggest island of the River Nile. All the travelers set out for the Temple of Kom Ombu. We did not find our guide, so we walked with other visitors. It was a short walk from the boat. Ma called the travel agent as we needed to return to the boat by 8am. She also bought our entrance tickets to save time. We found out that children under 6 years are free, but the travel agent charged Ma for Aariz’s entrance fees. I wish I were under six as well!
The Kom Ombu was the only temple that was built for two gods: Horas and Sobek. Horas was the god of wind, war and protection who had a falcon on his head and was known for protecting the pharaohs from evil spirits. He was the son of Osiris and Isis. Osiris was killed by his brother Seth who took over the kingdom. Before imprisoning the falcon god Horus, Seth took his eyes. The eyes of Horus were very famous in Egyptian history as these could see through the horizon. Horus fought Seth back and ruled Egypt successfully. There is a movie called ‘The gods of Egypt’ based on the fight between Horus and Seth.
Sobek, with a crocodile head, was the god of protection from crocodiles. The ancient Egyptians believed that the crocodile god Sobek protected them from crocodiles in the Nile and ensured their production of family and crops. Interestingly, Horus and Sobek fought for the control of the temple and the fight was described in the hieroglyphics on the temple.
The Kom Ombu Temple had a calendar on the wall other temples do not have. The hieroglyphics described how and when during the year farmers used to grow agricultural produce, especially sugarcane, and also detailed what kind of offerings were made to the gods and goddesses. It also described the way of life of the gods, kings and their families. It described how mothers used to give birth and feed their children while sitting and had prescriptions for mothers after child-birth.
The temple had tall obelisks, its top covered in gold. It was believed that the God of Sun, Amun Ra, used to shine the temple for Horus. Basically, the sun rise was on Horus’s side.
Aariz was very interested in finding ankh from the hieroglyphics. Ankh means key of life which was held by the gods and goddesses only. Last year, we learned hieroglyphics from our history book, and we tried writing few sentences.
We also visited the crocodile museum next to the temple, in which taking pictures was forbidden. In ancient Egypt, crocodiles were respected animals which were used by the pharaohs and priests for protection. The guide was not allowed to enter the museum, but he explained later that the Nile had a lot of ferocious crocodiles, one of which killed a son of a governor. The governor was so heartbroken and angry that he killed one crocodile every day for a year. Altogether,122 adult male, 122 adult female and 121 baby crocs were killed and some of those were mummified. We are told the Lake Nasser has lot of crocodiles and the swampy areas in the river are also home for the Nile crocodiles. Ma told us that certain part of the Nile in Khartoum is also known for crocodiles. We had no interest in visiting those areas!
As soon as we returned to the boat, it sailed for Edfu. The dining room was at the bottom, which was below water level. Having a relaxed breakfast and seeing the boat moving through the beautiful blue water was amazing. We were told that until noon we would be sailing, so I concentrated on making cannon balls in the swimming pool. Aariz could not swim, therefore, he stayed in the shallow part and discovered that keeping your back and bottom against the water coming from tap is somehow fun. When we returned to our room, we found a crocodile waiting on our bed! Instead of being horrified, we loved taking picture with it.
Just after noon, we reached Edfu town. It was sunny and hot. Another guide was waiting for us with a horse cart. All the travelers went to the Temple of Edfu by horse carts. Our one was a bit smelly, not sure about others. From the parking area, we needed to walk a few minutes to reach the temple. On the way, Ma bought us black and white scarves to protect our head and neck from the sun. Ma frequently asked us to drink water as we were sweating a lot.
The temple of Edfu, also known as Temple of Horus, is the largest temple for Horus and Hathor. It is also considered the most beautiful and well-preserved temple in Egypt. The huge walls of the temple had description of the birth of Horus, his growing up, his marriage with Hathor, and so many other issues. The temple has huge columns, taller than we saw in the previous temples, and open space for offerings of people. There are 12 columns on each side. The inner side also has 12 columns with lot of description on it. The temple had a well, connected to the river, called the Nile well or Nilometer. The amount of tax was decided by the level of water of the Nile in the well, according to our guide.
A French Egyptologist discovered the temple. During the Christian period, people tried to destroy some of the pictures on the wall and put the temple on fire. You will be able to see dark fire marks on its roof. I felt angry at those people. I was wondering why people would want to destroy a beautiful temple like this!
After the temple visit, the boat set for Luxor. Just before the evening, our boat stopped at the Esna lock. The river was locked by a big gate. Water levels on both sides were uneven. We were wondering whether the Esna bridge will open to allow the boat to pass as the space between the boat and the bridge was not enough! To our wonder, the gate started opening slowly and water was drained out to the other side to bring the both sides on the same level. The boat was tied with thick ropes on both of its sides so that it remained stable. Vendors on small boats were trying to sell clothes. After few minutes, the gate opened completely, and our boat passed the lock.
There is a temple in Esna, but we did not stop to see it. Esna was the last town of Aswan. It was a slow evening on the boat and Aariz started playing chess with Uncle Mohammad. The boat had to sail the whole night to reach Luxor and we were eagerly waiting to see the famous Valley of Kings.
Aaryan Noor Rashid is 10 years old and Aariz Noor Rashid, 7