Kom Obo

We sailed in the morning. Back north towards Luxor. The prevailing wind was against us and this meant a lovely cool breeze across the upper deck. We sat out there for several hours enjoying watching life on the banks of the Nile. People fishing from small boats, goats grazing, a few birds and many crops. The water from the Nile gives rise to a rich, green land but not far behind this is hard, harsh desert.

We stopped at Kom Obo for another temple. This one is dedicated to the crocodile god, Sorbek and also the falcon god Haroeris. The duality is achieved by way of a unique double temple. It is symmetrical along a line. Half for Sorbek, half for Haroeris. A dual entrance leads to halls, courts and an inner sanctuary for each god. The existing temple was begun by Ptolemy VI, 100 BC, at the beginning of his reign and added to by later Ptolemies. Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used its stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts, who once used the temple as a church.

Adjacent to the temple is the small crocodile museum. This houses a wonderful collection of mummified crocodiles. One of them is still wrapped in bandages and is presented in a case along with some baby reptiles. I was particularly impressed by the eyes. We slipped as quickly as we could through the inevitable bazaar of vendors. I was almost tempted by a Chinese mass-produced replica mummified crocodile, but resisted.

Back at the river boat we had our final night on board as we sailed to Edfu. In the morning we disembarked and were driven to Luxor. A small change of plan but essential because the river boat had modified its schedule and we had a plane to catch.

We were both just about templed out by now but there was still time to slip a couple more in. The Karnak temple and Luxor temple are joined by the 3 km Sphinx Avenue. A roadway lined by a magnificent row of Sphinx statues on each side. More immense gateways. Several obelixes and more towering columns than you could shake a stick at. It was hot and crowded. We were quite happy to reach the end of the tour.

Back in Cairo, we stayed at a much more western style hotel on the banks of the Nile. This lacked any of the character or charm of our previous hotel in the Arabic Quarter. But it was gloriously quiet at night and we could buy wine. This suited us better.

Next day was the Grand Egyptian Museum. This is brand new and not officially opened yet. None the less it was very crowded although this was offset by the size and grandeur of the place. It is built near the pyramids at Giza. A series of ascending staircases lead you through vast halls of statues to a panoramic window with the pyramids beyond. Here are many of the treasures that have been removed from temples over the years. The Tutankhamen exhibition is here. No photographs allowed. I recalled the great excitement when this collection was brought to London in 1972. The whole country went a bit Tutankhamen mad for a few weeks. There are also mummies here. A lot of them. Again, no photography allowed. It was a bit strange looking at the shrivelled, blackened remains of people from thousands of years ago. They built pyramids, had elaborate burial and mummification rituals to try and ensure their immortality. Which happened, in a sense, but almost certainly not in the way they intended.

In the afternoon we went to the Egyptian museum. A much older establishment but still stacked with statues, treasures, caskets and the Rosetta stone. Not the real one. The British Museum is hanging on to that for “safe keeping”. The stone contains the same script in hieroglyphics, a simplified form of hieroglyphics and ancient Greek. This was key to understanding the ancient Egyptian writings. Since then other translation stones have been found but this was the first and probably most important. It was originally carved around 200 BC in Sais. It was later moved to Rosetta where it was used as building material. A French army officer uncovered it in 1799 during the French invasion of Egypt. In 1802, when the British defeated the French, they took possession of the stone and it has been on display, almost continuously, in the British Museum ever since. It is one of their most visited exhibits so I doubt they will want to give it back any time soon.

Diane and I generally find museums a bit dry and boring. Now we had done two museums in one day. Probably unprecedented in our travels. The significant difference was that we had a very informative young guide, called Mayo. He was full of stories that brought life to the otherwise dull displays. I have often thought that museums should work on presenting stories rather than simple facts and figures.