The columns of the Great Temple of Kom Ombo are a magnificent sight as you arrive from the river. Dedicated to the gods Sobek and Haroeris, the temple’s finely carved reliefs give a sense of this area’s prominence as capital over the surrounding region during the Ptolemaic era. Today, Kom Ombo may be a sleepy agricultural backwater surrounded by sugar cane fields, but its prime position along the Nile once made it one of Upper Egypt’s most important centers.The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple constructed during the Ptolemaic period, which lasted from 108 to 47 BC.The temple’s double dedication is reflected in its layout: It’s perfectly symmetrical along the main axis and has twin entrances, two connected hypostyle halls with the reliefs of two gods on either side of a column, twin chambers, and twin sanctuaries. The eastern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek (god of the Nile and creator of the world), his wife Hathor, and their son Khonsu.
