Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Kom Ombo

The temple at Kom Ombo was the only one we could see from the Nile.


Contemporary with the temple at Edfu, it does double duty, dedicated to both Horus the Elder, and Sobek, the crocodile god.  There's even a museum with mummified crocs.


Thoth and Horus bless a pharaoh before he's crowned.


Ahmed taught us an Arabic word every day.  "Bah" means the end.  It refers to the last day on the ancient 28-day calendar.


Ancient Egyptians didn't shy away from depicting childbirth.  They had a pregnancy test, too.  Women urinated over both wheat and barley seeds.  Germination signaled a positive test with seed type forecasting gender.


Crocodiles were once kept in this well which had another purpose.  Fed by river water, it was known a a Nilometer.  Pharaohs based farm taxes on the water level, determined by annual flooding of the Nile.  Too much or too little flooding decreased crop yields and taxes; moderate flooding increased crop yields and taxes.


Photo op or exercise?  I couldn't tell.


No comments:

Post a Comment