KOM OMBO		Quality of Remains
		Ease of Access
		Atmosphere & Setting

History & Occupation:

Though the site of Kom Ombo dates back to the very earliest civilisation in Egypt as a place of workship for the crocodile god Sobek, the earliest monuments visible on the promontory are from the Ptolemaic period. The Ptolemaic temple is a curiosity, being a temple to two chief Gods, rather than one individually. Side by side in the first courtyard are two doorways, behind which are two temples occupying the same building and running parallel, dedicated to Sobek and Horus. These are the two main gods of the Kom Ombo sacred complex and much of their temple was built by the troops stationed here during the Ptolemaic period. The buildings were embellished and decorated during the Roman period and other structures were added. The site then fell to ruin and remained that way until the modern era when the temple was cleared and restoration work undertaken.

Remains and Visit:

Standing on an impressive promontory in the Nile, Kom Ombo has one of the most spectacular sites of any Egyptian temple. Though most of the complex is of Ptolemaic origin, much of the decoration of the same is of Roman origin. Indeed, the whole site is a mix of the Greek-Egyptian and the Roman-Egyptian. The main Roman structure on the island is the chapel of Hathor which stores the mummified remains of two crocodiles out of the hundreds that have been found around this sacred site. The chapel itself is unimpressive when put alongside the great temple on the site. The extremely ruinous pylon entrance to the complex showed Roman decoration. Although only one side of the pylon remain in a sad state, the Emperor Domitian is depicted among the carvings. The entrance to the impressive double temple itself is reached through a colonnaded courtyard constructed by Augustus and depicting Tiberius on many of the columns. The entire complex is encircled by a corridor, the walls of which were decorated in the Roman period. On well known image on this wall is the headless carving of the Emperor Trajan offering a collection of surgical instruments (Horus in the form he was worshipped here was associated with healing.) Scattered around the site are columns from the Roman period, or just capitals from columns, statues and odd pieces of Roman stonework attesting the possible presence of other Roman structures at one time or another.

Images:

Courtyard of Augustus	Temple of Hathor	Column
Trajan Carving	Roman statue	Aerial view (c/o Google Earth)