Our first morning on the boat. What a beautiful sunrise. There was some really nice secenery along the Nile. We didn't have much time between breakfast and our first stop at Temple Kom Ombo. This was a neat temple because it was dedicated to two gods: Haroeris (falcon god) and Sobek (crocodile god). These gods were present in many of the carvings on the temple. The falcon god (middle picture) is seen with a man's body and a falcon head whereas the crocodile god (last picture) is similar with a man's body but with a croc's head. There were some carvings that still have the orginal paint intact.
The temple was very cool to explore. We saw the foundation of some walls still intact and could see how they joined the peices of stone - they made dove tailing and put peices of wood in them to keep them together (left photo). The last picture in the set shows heiroglyphs of some of the tools used in medical practices and to mummify the bodies.
There were many themes carved into the walls of the temple (and other temples we saw later also). One was of the King being supported by the Queen and the gods (first picture), and how the King was purified by the gods - pouring the key of life over him (last picture).
We were even able to see a calander that had been carved into one of the walls. They made ticks for the days of the month and showed which months had celebrations. Our tour guide is explaining this to us in the last picture but there was so much information I have forgotten most of it.
This temple also had a Nileometer, which was a way to figure out the taxes for the area. If the water came up high in the meter it meant that the crops would do well and therefore higher taxes were required. If the Nile didn't flood very high there were lower taxes. Of course with the dam in Aswan now the Nile doesn't flood anymore.
Here are some more cool carvings. I like the one in the bottom right - it looks like a smiley face!
Our last picture at Temple Kom Ombo before heading back to the boat for a cruise to the next temple.
Out guide (Ahmed) was waiting for us before we got back on the Liberty. When we got back in our room to drop off our stuff, we found a very cool dude waiting for us! :)
We spent our time on the top deck watching the countryside and visiting with our new friends (Colin and Meridith - Aussies living in the south of France). It was actually quite chilly up there. We saw a couple of fishermen using oars that were just square planks of wood. We also saw a working waterwheel being worked with oxen to irrigate the crops.
We docked again and headed to the next temple by calesh (horse drawn buggy). Samantha got to drive us there - I think she is suppose to be watching the road though! David also got to drive to temple Edfu.
The temple of Edfu is special in many ways. It was buried under sand for over two thousnads years so is very well preserved, it was also the site (accourding to ancient myth) that Horus (falcon god) fought a fierce battle with Seth (his uncle) for killing his father (Osiris). Horus had to fight Seth in three different forms: hippopotumus, dog and crocodile.
This temple also contains a model of Horus's sacred barque (boat found in first picture). We all had a great time exploring the numerous chambers and looking at the heiroglyphics.
When it was time to head back to the boat Patrick got to drive us home.
We spent more time chillaxing and watching the scenery go by. Wayne introduced Ahmed to "beer o'clock" (not that he partook but he did enjoy the pharse and the visit). While the grown ups watched the sun set the kids were busy swimming.
They found it very cold so managed to block the drain in the shower stall and played in there. Little did we know that not only were they getting wet but so was the captain beneath us. I guess the water had leaked through the tiles and was giving the captain a little shower below. We all got a very good chuckle out of that! :) Well that concludes our last night of sailing down the Nile. We would arrive in Luxor tomorrow morning.
