Kom Ombo

The temple at Kom Ombo is another Ptolemaic temple. Built on the remains of an 18th Dynasty temple by Ptolemy VI Philometor (2nd century BCE) and added to by later Ptolemies and Romans, the temple today is largely a ruin, but an impressive ruin at that. It is unusual in that it is two temples in one, dedicated to two different gods. Each of the two entrances visible in the photo above led to a different temple. They were at one time separated by a wall, which has long since vanished.

The left temple was devoted to a personification of Horus called Haroeris or "Horus the Elder." The right temple belonged to Sobek, the crocodile god. (A small museum beside the temple contains a few mummified crocodiles but these beasts no longer inhabit the region.) A unique feature of Kom Ombo is a wall panel depicting a series of surgical instruments, including forceps, scalpels, and such.

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