Kom Ombo and Edfu: Gods of Crocodile and Falcon
We left Aswan behind, tracing the Nile northward toward Luxor, with
two sacred stops along the way.
At Kom Ombo, the temple rose like a mirage on the riverbank—half
dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god of fertility and chaos, and half
to Horus the Elder, the falcon-headed god of protection. The
symmetry was striking; a duality carved in stone. In the nearby
Crocodile Museum, mummified reptiles lay in glass cases, their
ancient forms curled in eternal stillness. It was eerie and oddly
reverent. In Kom Ombo, the crocodile god Sobek reigned. To honour
him, priests raised crocodiles in sacred pools, mummified them in
death, and buried them like royalty.
I came here chasing stories. But I found something more—a glimpse
into a world where danger was divine, and even death was wrapped
in reverence.
Further along, we reached Edfu, home to the best-preserved temple
in Egypt. Dedicated to Horus, it stood proud and imposing, its
towering pylons etched with scenes of divine battles. The hieroglyphs
felt freshly carved, as if the priests had just stepped away. We
wandered through its hypostyle halls, dwarfed by columns and
shadows, the air thick with incense of centuries past.