Month: March 2023

Traveling Down the Nile to meet the Greek Ptolemies and Romans.

The Nile from Cairo to Aswan

Traveling in Style on the Nile River

Amwaj our floating Hotel to journey from Luxor to Aswan

After arriving in Luxor on March 3rd, we were taken to our floating Hotel for 5 days and 4 nights on the Nile. The Amwaj River Boat was just what we needed to travel to the remote Historical sites along the Nile. I have included photos taken on our trip. Accommodations were excellent.

Our luxury hotel. The best way to stay along the Nile.
Ellen and Linda on board for a party!
Our room accommodations, the upper deck and lobby on our floating hotel
Towel Animals from our room stewards. There were no women employed on the boat.

Edfu Temple

Our trip down the Nile from Luxor to Aswan by riverboat, enabled us to visit three Ptolomatic temples, Edfu, Kom Ombo and Philea in Aswan. From the reign of Ramses III, the last Egyptian Pharaoh, there were 10 dynasties of Libyan rulers, two from Kush and Persia before 332 BC with the entrance of Alexander the Great. (All information is from lecture by Osmon our Nawas guide at Edfu)

When Alexander died in India, his two generals divided his kingdom with Ptolemy I taking over Egypt, Nubia, Sudan, 1/2 of Libya and Cyprus. This dynasty went through 13-14 Ptolemies and 7 Cleopatras (the name given to the king’s favorite wife) until 30 AD with the beginning of the Roman occupation and rule at the death of Cleopatra VII.

Arriving at Edfu, Egyptian Style! 80% of transportation in this town of 40,000 is by horse or donkey.
Edfu Temple
Birth House outside of the temple dedicated to Bes, the goddess of childbirth. A once a year festival was held to reestablish the King’s reign.

Building of this temple took 180 years, beginning in 237 BC to 57 BC. Teams of 350 workers worked 12 hour shifts, day and night, 9 days a week (Egyptian weeks were 10 days long, a month of 30 days was made up of three 10 day weeks) to complete the temple. Outside the temple the images were carved to better see them in the daylight. Inside the images were a relief carved out of the gypsum plaster to better see in the dark.

Example from Edfu of carving into the sandstone walls to see better outside in the light. The Falcon Image is wearing the two crowns of Egypt.
Example of relef carvings as the plaster is removed from the walls.

This temple is the best preserved in Egypt as it was covered with sand almost to the top of the entrance pylons until the 19th Century AD when rediscovered by the French explorer and Egyptologist, Auguste Mariette.

This temple was dedicated to Horus, the falcon god.
Inside the temple courts: beyond the entrance is a large open courtyard with 24 columns on each side. The inner sections are lit with “skylights” from above. The last image is what the skylights illuminated on the wall while we were there.
Replica of the Solar Boat that was found here by Auguste Mariette and taken to France. Original is now in the Louvre in Paris.
I don’t know the reason for the large belly buttons, but it makes for interesting photos. The bottom photo shows the men are with the solar boat on their shoulders.

Kom Ombo Temple

Entrance into the inner court of the temple. The large stone blocks behind the sign are from an earlier temple of Thutmosis III (1400 BC).

As we travel from Edfu toward Aswan, we stop at Kom Ombo. This temple was constructed from 180-47 BC by the Ptolemy VI and his wife/sister Cleopatra II (180-145) BC.

This temple was dedicated to two Egyptian gods, the crocodile god, Sobek and the falcon god, Horus the Elder. Upper left is a well or Nilometer, a chamber connected to the Nile that indicated the height of the Nile during flood stage..Lower photos of mummified crocodiles found the adjacent catacombs.

All of the ancient temples had a dual use. Temples were used as hospitals and schools. (Karnak was the school at the time of Moses). One rare engraved image from Kom Ombo below shows medical implements used for surgery. There is also a calendar that could be used to teach the months and counting.

Kom Ombo was used as a hospital. The walls show the surgery instruments and bottles used in the Roman Era.
An Egyptian Calendar. Photo is from my video explaining the numbers. From what the guide said, the middle column would be the symbols for the months, the symbols on the right would be the days. So the top right would be the first month, the 24th day reading from right to left. A perfect item to teach the months and counting for children at school.
Kom Ombo is an active archeological site. These are ancient mud brick walls that predate the temple.

Philea Temple

Of these three temples along the Nile, Philea Temple Complex is the oldest and has an interesting current history. Build originally on Philea Island, it was build on foundations of earlier temples. This temple complex was started around 600 BC, under the direction of Necho II, but the finished temple dates to 280 BC to the Roman era of 117 AD. The island was considered the southern boundary of the Pharaohs with a large garrison stationed there to protect Egypt’s southern border at the first cataract.

Reconstructed temple complex was moved from Philea Island to Agilka Island in the 1960’s before completion of the High Dam south of Aswan.

To protect the area temples from being covered with water after the completed construction of the High Dam in the 1960’s the 50,000 large blocks of this complex were moved to a higher and nearby island. Another temple in this area was the Temple of Dendur which was given to the United States for its financial help in this project (including Abu Simbel). This temple is now housed in a special wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan.

Roman Rulers also saw this as their southern border and build the temple below and housed a large garrison in the area.

Kiosk of Trajan built by the Roman Emperior Trajan who ruled from 98 to 117 AD on Philea Island and moved with the Temple to Agilka Island in the 20th Century AD.
Outer courtyard at Philea Temple Complex with columns showing Hathor at the top.
Like many ancient temples, this structure was used as a Christian Church in the early centuries AD.
The different crosses carved into the walls of the temple showing the different groups that used this structure for worship.
My Philea Temple Cat, Bastet.

While I did visit Philea Temple in 2019, it was for a light show at night and since the narrator gave the information in several languages, I did not appreciate the beauty of this Complex of temples.

My hope is that you can see the beauty of this country and will plan your own trip here soon.