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Temple of Kom Ombo

Kom Ombo, Aswan, Egypt

A side view of Kom Ombo Temple

Kom Ombo temple is a unique temple, since it was built for two separate gods. Everything throughout the temple is duplicated for each god, so the temple is symmetrical about its middle axis.

Although the Temple of Kom-Ombo is in fairly poor condition, and there wasn't anything incredibly unique about the temple itself, there are still a few neat things to see here that we hadn't seen before. The first neat thing we saw were mummified crocodiles that were on display inside part of the temple. Supposedly, hundreds of mummified crocodiles were found in the nearby area, but only a couple of them are displayed here.

Outside the main temple complex is something that looks like a big well. It is called a "Nileometer", and was used to measure the height that the Nile rose during a particular year's inundation. During ancient times, taxes were collected based on how much the Nile rose (and thus how much food people should be able to grow), so the Nileometer was used to calculate taxes. Although all temples had a Nileomter, this was the only one that we saw on our trip.

Cost

A mummified crocodile

Foreign tourists pay 25 LE to enter this temple. Visitors are allowed to take pictures and video without any additional fees.

Estimated Visiting Time

Looking down the Nileometer

Walking around the ruins of the temple and seeing the sites takes approximately 60-90 minutes for a casual tourist.