Philae and Kom Ombo

Today started with a visit to Philae Island which has the Temple of Isis. This temple was mostly built during the last dynasty, the Ptolemies. The temple was flooded in 1902 when the British built the Aswan low dam to grow more Egyptian cotton. It was moved from underwater to a higher island in the late 60’s along with other structures that would be flooded by the high dam. Much of the colorful paint deteriorated while it was underwater.

In the 5th century, the Romans had taken over Egypt, worshiping the old gods was banned, and the temple was used as a church. You can see crosses carved over the scenes.

After visiting the temple, we took a local sailboat, the felucca, for a ride back to the cruise ship. These boats tacked back and forth going upwind, often coming within a few feet of each other.

Then lunch on the boat and we set out for Kom Ombo. Donna attended an Egyptian cooking class given by the head chef. The food on the boat is good, even the bread is baked daily on the ship. They have about eight kinds of bread daily. Steve went to the top deck of the boat and took pictures along the Nile.

The temple at Kom Ombo is dedicated to Sobek and Horus. Sobek is the crocodile god. This temple was buried in sand, so some of the colors survived.

There is also a museum of mummified crocodiles here.