Aswan Egypt Day 3

After the Kom Ombo visit, we visited the many stalls set up along the Nile River docks for a bit of shopping. The male sellers called out to us, but we gave our business to an elderly lady who sat by the banks without a stall. She was selling belly dancing hip scarves, spread out on big cloth on the ground. A friend bought one from her, but I did not as I could not find a color I liked.

A few stalls later, I found a scarf I liked - a simple black one with silver coins and tassels. The seller showed us how to tie an Egyptian style hijab. It was relatively simple. The style was done using my own pashmina shawl. We could not do much shopping as the cruise ship was set to sail again - this time headed to Aswan.

We rushed back to the cruise ship - me in my Egyptian styled hijab! Which I have to add was very cool looking.



Back at the cruise ship, we took our showers and freshened up. Then we decided to take some pictures of ourselves in Egyptian styled hijab - much fuss was made over the tying of the hijab. But we had lots of fun doing it.

The cruise ship arrived at Aswan just after dinner and docked for the night. We decided to go for a night walk in Aswan. Aswan was more lively than the other towns we had been too along the Nile. Aswan was more of a city - it had many buildings along the Nile. Aswan is Egypt's sunniest southern city and ancient frontier town located about 81 miles south of Luxor - it has a distinctively African atmosphere.

I found out later that as of 6 October 2009, the last rainfall was a thunderstorm on May 13, 2006! I do not know how much rain Egypt gets in general - but while I was there, it did not rain a single day.

Our ship had just docked outside the Aswan police station. We walked along the streets - and came across a lively group of Nubians. They were beating drums outside of a photo studio. We guessed that this was for a wedding, and hung around wanting to watch what happened.

A group of boys - seven in all - were at the side playing. They instantly crowded around us curiously. And I attempted to speak to them in my basic Arabic. The oldest of the group, whose English was the best, was 15 year old Ahmed. The youngest looked to be about only 7 or 8 years old. I wondered why they were all out playing so late in the night - didn't they have to go to school. Ahmed told me that they did not have school the next day - a Friday. The school days were six days of a week with Friday off. Imagine that! I am used to a five day school week - how studious of the Egyptians.

Ahmed told me that his father was a cook at a nearby shop. And he lived nearby too. I asked if he was a Nubian, and he said he was not a Nubian. But his uncle was attending the wedding event inside. His friends also did not look Nubian. It was nice to see that Nubians and the other Egyptians had a good relationship. They all spoke Arabic by the way.

We hung around hoping to see the bride and groom. But it took a while for them to come out. Meanwhile the boys wanted us to watch them play football, but we were more interested in the wedding - typical gals we were!

We saw some little girls around, but they hung with their mothers mostly. There were no groups of girls running around and playing the way the boys were.

I got involved in a conversation with a Nubian older lady. Somehow I could understand their Arabic. And I told them where I am from. Then she looked at my friends who did not look like me - and asked where they were from. I said the same place. And she looked very confused. She then wanted to know if my country had people who looked only like me. I had to explain in my rudimentary Arabic that my country was multi-racial with people who looked different - like me and my friends!

Then another lady came - she could speak English. She told us about the wedding. And even invited us to join them for the wedding celebrations after the photo shoot. But it was late and we had only just arrived. So we did not dare join them!

Then she asked us to visit her at her home - she offered to do henna tattoos for us. We asked if she lived in the Nubian village. She said no, she lived in Aswan, and that the village was farther.

But she did not have paper to write her address, and neither did we. Then the bride and groom came out. And it was a missed opportunity. She would have been good to talk with at a home visit!

After the wedding procession left, a man approached us and invited us for tea at his family's jewelry store. He was pleasant enough, but his store just across the street looked immensely fancy with real gold jewelry. We had no money for that kind of purchases - so even though he said we would not be under any obligation to buy, we declined the invitation.

This by the way is a sales tactic. They invite you for tea, and then try and hook you with a product. And it actually works.

But in our case, we politely declined and said we would try and stop by the next day.

Then we walked back to the ship after saying bye to Ahmed and his friends.

Kom Ombo Temple | Kom Ombo Egypt Day 3

After our leisurely morning and a lunch, our group met up for a late afternoon visit to Kom Ombo temple. Our cruise ship docked for a few hours to let us off for the visit. The Kom Ombo temple was situated just near where we docked - with a brilliant view of the beautiful Nile River. It was about 28 miles north of the city of Aswan, in a village called Kom Ombo.

The Temple known as Kom Ombo is actually two temples consisting of a Temple to Sobek and a Temple of Haroeris. In ancient times, sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the river bank near here. The Temple has scant remains, due first to the changing Nile, then the Copts who once used it as a church, and finally by builders who used the stones for new buildings.

Everything is duplicated along the main axis. There are two entrances, two courts, two colonades, two hypostyle halls and two sanctuaries. There were probably even two sets of priests. The left, or northern side is dedicated to Haroeris (sometimes called Harer, Horus the Elder) who was the falcon headed sky god and the right to Sobek (the corcodile headed god). The two gods are accompanied by their families. They include Haroeris' wife named Tesentnefert, meaning the good sister and his son, Panebtawy. Sobek likewise is accompanied by his consort, Hathor and son, Khonsu.

The temple is not as impressive as the ones we had seen earlier. Maybe it was also a case of temple fatigue - massive columns were no longer as awesome as they were earlier? But there are very interesting wall carvings to view.


Ancient Calendar at Kom Ombo Temple
Depicting Days of Important Ceremonies

Sobek, Crocodile God on the Right



Guide Said Women Depicted Sitting
Might be Women Giving Birth
It sure looks uncomfortable!

Toenails!
I am always amazed at the level of attention
paid to the features in these depictions

Kom Ombo Temple
As the Sun Begins to Set

Nile Cruise | Egypt Day 3

After our morning visit to Temple of Horus, we returned to the cruise ship on the horse drawn carriages. The cruise ship was set to sail at 10.30 am that day. It was the first time since we've been on the ship, that we had sailed so early. This was a welcome chance to relax on the top deck during the day time.

Right after we got settled in, I went to the top deck. I ordered myself espresso and sat down under the shade as close to the rails of the ship as I could. Then I enjoyed the slight cool breeze as the ship sailed. The speed at which the cruise ship traveled was just right - neither too fast or slow. I would say it was at the speed of a slow train.

Here are some beautiful shots of the Nile as the cruise ship sailed.

The Nile River, Egypt

View from Inside the Cabin Room







Another Cruise Ship Heading
in A Different Direction from Us

Width of the Nile River - About 700 metres

A Jetty

Typical Houses Along the Nile

Temple of Horus | Edfu Egypt Day 3

Sometime the night before, we arrived to Edfu. Edfu is located on the west bank of the Nile River between Esna and Aswan, with a population of approximately sixty thousand people.

After breakfast, we gathered outside the cruise ship. There were several horse carriages outside - we were going for a horse carriage ride! The only drawback was that stench of the horses. The horse carriage drivers had attached some sort of bucket to catch the horse dropping - I suppose that it is better than allowing the horse droppings to fall all over the streets. But I noticed that the buckets were not all empty. That probably contributed to the stench!

Two of my friends got themselves seated in the carriage - but there was no space for me, so the driver suggested I sit next to him. This was fine. Then he allowed he to actually ride the horse. The horse, I think a female horse, was strong and had a shiny coat. Initially when I took the reins, the horse proceeded on its own. I felt I was not doing much steering. Later when we approached slight bends in the street, the driver showed me how to pull one rein and slacken the other rein to make the horse move in the desired direction. Then I felt in control of the horse. Quite an exciting feeling, if you like myself, had never experienced it before.

Horse Carriage Ride - Edfu, Egypt

Here are some pictures of Edfu - what friends managed to capture while I was doing the horse riding!

Police Station, Edfu

Shop Making Fresh Bread

Morning Market, Edfu


Of all the temple remains in Egypt, the Temple of Horus at Edfu is the most completely preserved. Built from sandstone blocks, the huge Ptolemaic temple was constructed over the site of a smaller New Kingdom temple, oriented east to west, facing towards the river. The later structure faces north to south and leaves the ruined remains of the older temple pylon to be seen on the east side of the first court.

This is not only the best preserved ancient temple in Egypt, but the second largest after Karnak. It was believed that the temple was built on the site of the great battle between Horus and Seth. Hence, the current temple was but the last in a long series of temples build on this location. It is said that the original structure housing a statue of Horus was a grass hut built in prehistoric times. At any rate, there is an earlier and smaller pylon of Ramesses II which sits in a 90 degree angle to the current building.

The main building, which includes a great Hypostyle Hall, was uncovered by Mariette in the 1860s. There are numerous reliefs, including a depiction of the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting, the annual reunion between Horus and his wife Hathor. The reliefs are mostly situated on the inside of the first pylon, and spiritually connect this temple with Hathor’s Temple at the Dendera complex. During the third month of summer, the priests at the Dendera complex would place the statue of Hathor on her barque (a ceremonial barge) and would thus bring the statue to the Edfu Temple, where it was believed that Horus and Hathor shared a conjugal visit. Each night, the god and goddess would retire to the mamissi, or berthing house.

There is still an entrance colonnade to the mamissi, and reliefs with considerable remaining color just outside the main temple. These images portray the ritual of the birth of Harsomtus, son of Horus and Hathor.


Temple of Horus, Edfu