 Double temple of Kom Ombo | ||
| Double temple of Kom Ombo معبد كوم أمبو | ||
| Governorate | Aswan | |
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| height | 95 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
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The Double temple of Kom Ombo, Arabic:معبد كوم أمبو, Maʿbad Kūm Umbū, is a ancient egyptian Temple complex on the east Bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt, of the two separately worshiped deities Sobek (Suchos) and Haroëris was consecrated. The temple is located about 3.5 kilometers southwest of the center of the city Kom Ombo. The temple complex was built in Ptolemaic times, and in small parts it was also expanded in Roman times. The reliefs and decorative elements of the double temple are among the most important works of Ptolemaic architecture.
background
History of construction and research
The double temple of Kom Ombo was built in the Ptolemaic Epoch of Egypt 304 to 31 BC Chr. Kom Ombo, the former Omboi (also Ombos), was next to at that time Elephantine Administrative center of the first Upper Egyptian GauesTa-seti.
Presumably the temple was under Ptolemy VI Philometor started and built on the remains of much smaller predecessor buildings from the 12th dynasty in the Middle Kingdom and from the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom. The enclosure wall surrounded the temple at a width of 51 and a length of 96 meters. The decoration continued into the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, but was never fully completed. In the chapels in the rear area of the temple, only partially prepared reliefs can be seen. Other parts of the temple, such as the western part of the entrance pylon with the surrounding wall and the attached wall Mammisi ("Birthplace"), were only recently destroyed by floods.
The ruins of the temple of Kom Ombo were for a long time over half covered by sand. They were only made under the French archaeologist in 1893 Jacques de Morgan exposed and restored. To the northwest of the temple stood the great Mammisi des until the 19th century Ptolemy VIII. Euergetes II
In the recent history of Egypt, the location of the temple complex developed into a center of attraction for tourism. Visiting the temple of Kom Ombo is an integral part of the Nile cruises between the 150 kilometers to the north Luxor and the one 40 kilometers to the south Aswan.
Revered gods
The double temple of Kom Ombo is the only temple in Egypt in which two different gods were worshiped in largely separate parts of the temple: the right, southeast half, seen from the double main entrance, was dedicated to the crocodile-shaped Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of water, fertility and creator. In the left, north-western half temple, the worship was given to the falcon-headed Haroëris, the god of light and sky, but also the god of war. The hawk-headed Haroëris was a manifestation of the god Horus, accordingly also called "Horus the Great" or "Horus the Old".
The god Haroëris formed in Kom Ombo with the goddess Ta-senet-nefertiti and the child deity Pa-neb-taui an own Trinity of gods, a triad, just like the god Sobek with the goddess Hathor and the child god Chons.
getting there
Car and bus
The journey can be made by train, bus or car Aswan respectively. As the temple is west of the city, you need a taxi to get to the temple. Traveling by taxi costs around LE 15–25 or a Tuqtuq around LE 5–10. You should also think about the return trip, because there are very few taxis or Tuqtuqs at the double temple.
For arrival and departure to Aswan or Luxor you don't need a convoy between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. At night you have to rely on a private convoy, which is subject to a fee.
By boat
Nile cruises are very popular. The landing stage for the cruise ships operating on the Nile is right next to the double temple, about 70 meters west of the temple complex.
mobility
The temple is explored on foot.
Tourist Attractions
The archaeological site is open to visitors daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The entrance fee is LE 140 and for students LE 70 (as of 11/2019), including the crocodile museum.
Gate of Ptolemy ’XII.
Then as now you entered the temple through a pylon in the southwest corner, of which only the eastern tower has been preserved.
The double temple
On the south-western side of the pylon that bounds the forecourt is the Roman emperor Domitian who, together with other gods of the triad, pays homage to Sobek, Hathor and Chons, accompanied by a 52-line text in hieroglyphic script.
Behind the two central entrances in the surrounding wall, a double portal to the temple area, was a courtyard with sixteen columns flanking it. Of these columns, only the lower parts and their bases have survived. They are richly decorated with reliefs and hieroglyphics in which traces of the original painting have been preserved. On the pillars became emperor Tiberius depicted, inscribed in the scriptures carved into the stone opposite, how he offers gifts to the gods. In the middle of the courtyard there are still remains of the altar on which the sacred boat was placed during the processions of the gods.
On the north-east side of the courtyard is the outer wall of the temple building, decorated with bas-reliefs, flat raised reliefs, into which five columns are integrated, of which only the three central ones have the full height of 12 meters up to the architrave. Together with the two further rows of columns behind them, each with five equally high columns, they formed the supports for the roof of the pronaos, the temple vestibule. On the side of the doorway to the pronaos, the reliefs there show cleaning ceremonies. The bell-shaped composite capitals of the pillars are designed in the form of lotus blossoms, papyrus or palm trees. The column shafts as well as the reliefs of the hall show texts and scenes of devotion from Ptolemaic pharaohs, among them Cleopatra VI., opposite the gods. On the ceiling of the hall there are astronomical scenes and vultures, alternating with a vulture's head represented by the crown of Upper Egypt and a snake's head with the crown of Lower Egypt as symbols for the respective goddesses Nechbet and Wadjet.
The further way into the interior to the second columned hall, also called “Room of the Offerings”, leads like the entrance from the courtyard through two parallel entrances pointing to the double sanctuary. The ten columns of the second hall, arranged in two rows, are almost half the height of those of the pronaos. This smaller hall with columns shows similar scenes in its wall reliefs as the hall in front of it, only with the representation of other pharaohs, see above Ptolemy VIII. Euergetes II with his wife Cleopatra III. Euergetis and Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus. This room is followed by three transversely arranged vestibules, built by the Pharaoh who appears there in the reliefs Ptolemy VI Philometor, behind the two sanctuaries of the gods Haroëris and Sobek with black granite plinths. Of the sanctuaries of the two deities separated by a partition, only a decorative fragment and a dedication inscription above the left door are preserved.
The interior of the temple is surrounded by two corridors, one starting from the courtyard with the sixteen columns along the inside of the surrounding wall, the second adjoining it to the center of the temple with access from the pronaos. On the northeast side behind the sanctuaries, the closed rear wall of which no longer exists today, seven rooms of unknown destination adjoin. From the middle one a staircase leads up to a terrace. The rooms are all decorated with reliefs depicting gods and pharaohs, some of which, however, have remained unfinished. As a special feature, a relief of the inner corridor on the inside of the second temple wall shows some surgical instruments such as lancets, scissors, surgical forceps and others.
Outbuildings and facilities
The mammisi
In front of the western corner of the forecourt to the temple, the Mammisi, a birthplace, before the Nile swept away, with the exception of a few remains, together with the western part of the surrounding wall during a flood. The Mammisi was built by Pharaoh Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II. A relief with the pharaoh and two deities on a boat in the middle of papyrus swamps is preserved. To the northeast of the remains of the Mammisi, two relief stones with the two main gods of the temple Sobek and Haroëris are now placed next to the temple courtyard.
The Hathor Chapel
On the right side of the temple courtyard, the southern corner of the temple, there is a small chapel. The unfinished but well-preserved structure was built under Emperor Domitian in honor of the goddess Hathor. The Greek culture of the eastern Mediterranean equated Hathor with the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In the chapel crocodile mummies and sarcophagi were laid out from a nearby necropolis and can now be viewed in a newly built small museum. They are remnants of the cult around the crocodile-headed Sobek.
The Nilometer
About 25 meters northwest of the center of the temple complex is a nilometer for determining the water level. In Kom Ombo, this is an accessible round well shaft made of large stone masonry, in which the level of the Nile could be read using markings. In ancient Egypt, the results of the readings had a direct influence on the determination of the amount of taxes to be paid by the population. This was related to the need for water to irrigate the agricultural land. The more water was available due to a higher flood level in the river, the better the crop yields, so that higher taxes could also be levied.
Sobek chapel
At the far east end there are the remains of a small Sobek chapel.
Crocodile Museum
A crocodile museum was built in the immediate vicinity of the double temple. On the one hand, mummified crocodiles and eggs are presented. On the other hand, various statues and reliefs are exhibited that show the crocodile god Sobek.
shop
kitchen
accommodation
There are no accommodations in the vicinity of the temple or in the town of Kom Ombo. Tourists commonly visit Kom Ombo from Luxor or Aswan out.
trips
One can visit the double temple of Kom Ombo with that of the city Kom Ombo, the archaeological site of Gebel it-Silsila or with the city Edfu connect with the local Temple of Horus.
literature
reference books
- : Kom Ombo. In:Helck, Wolfgang; Westendorf, Wolfhart (Ed.): Lexicon of Egyptology; Vol. 3: Horhekenu - Megeb. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1980, ISBN 978-3-447-02100-5 , Col. 675-683.
- : Ombos. In:Real Lexicon of Egyptian Religious History. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1952, ISBN 978-3-11-016884-6 , P. 542.
- : The temples of Egypt. augsburg: Bechter coin, 1996, ISBN 978-3-86047-215-6 , Pp. 96-98.
- : Kom Ombo. In:Bard, Kathryn A. (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the Archeology of Ancient Egypt. London, New York: Routledge, 1999, ISBN 978-0-415-18589-9 , Pp. 418-421.
Publications on the temple
- : Com ombos. Vienna, 1895, Catalog des monuments et inscriptions de l’Egypte antique; 2-3. Two volumes.
- : Textes fondamentaux de la théologie de Kom Ombo. Le Caire: Inst. Français d’archéologie orientale, 1973, Bibliothèque d'étude; 47.
- : Kôm Ombo; 1: Les inscriptions du naos: (sanctuaires, salle de l'ennéade, salle des offrandes, couloir mystérieux). Le Caire [et al.]: Inst. Français d’archéologie orientale, 1995, ISBN 978-2-7247-0161-6 .
