To 40 km in the north of Aswan, on Right Bank of the the Nile, the town of Noubit was. Today, on the site of the antique quoted draws up nothing any more but superb the temple gréco-Roman of Kôm Ombo . Partially ruined (part of the temple crumbled in the Nile), it is currently the only visible vestige. The arrival by boat is fairy-like because the temple emerges suddenly on the green banks of the Nile.

The construction of the temple

The temple of Kôm Ombo, located at 165 km in the south of Louxor, was built on a hill of the town of Kôm Ombo in Egypt, close to the valley of the Nile, at the beginning of the II E by three Ptolémées.

Ptolémée {{VI}} (- 180/-145) was at the origin of the construction of the temple of Kôm Ombo at the beginning of its reign. The construction of the temple continued with other Ptolémées whose Ptolémée {{XIII}} (- 47/-44) and was completed at the 3rd century.

However, in the ruins of the mammisi now disappeared, the Egyptologists found traces of Thoutmôsis {{III}}.

The architecture of the Temple

A double enclosing wall includes the whole of constructions. This building, near by its plan to the temples of this time, presents an unfolding of the sanctuary and all the doors and passages which, since the entry, lead to the Naos.

All the walls of the temple, the corridors and the enclosures are still covered with reliefs of which some keep traces of polychromy. However the major part of the temple was destroyed by erosion due to the proximity of the the Nile, with the earthquakes, like with the stone extraction of the temple, re-used to build other temples.

Sacerdotal functions of the Temple

Unusual fact, it was dedicated to the worship of two divinities venerated on an equal footing: Haroëris, the god with head of sparrowhawk and Sobek, the god crocodile, this is why it is called the “temple with the two divinities”. The whole temple is thus separate in two parts, that of North, devoted to Haroéris and that of the South with Sobek.

Sobek, God of the fertility

Sobek is the son of the watery goddess Neith, its statute of god of water and of the flood makes it adore everywhere in the Delta of the Nile, the Fayoum and especially with Kom Ombo (principal sanctuary) where it has Hathor for wife.

Master of water, God who irrigates the fields, it is also associated with the fertility.

The presence of Crocodile S in the the Nile was for the Égyptiens the advertisement of a rising favorable to harvests.

In this city, as in other cities devoted to Sobek, one or more crowned crocodiles were maintained. With their death, they were embaumés. Mummies of crocodiles were found in a close necropolis.

On the other hand, Hérodote announces that the inhabitants of the area of Éléphantine held if little the crocodiles for crowned that they ate them. There are not from now on more crocodiles in this part of the Nile, the construction of the High stopping of Aswan by prohibiting the access to them.

Haroeris, beneficial, victorious God of Seth

Haroëris is the Greek name of a god of Egyptian mythology, Horour (hr-wr), which is probably the oldest shape of the god Hor (Horus in Greek).

It thus has the character of the Sun and the Moon, and it is thanks to him that the two stars do not cross and follow themselves compared to the hours. It was celebrated the last day of the month of Épiphi. When the two stars are in conjunction, its faithful believes that they waited until him homage is made.

In the Texts of the pyramids, it is wire of Re or Geb (?) but he is in any case the brother of Seth. He is the side beneficial of these two characters, with the opposition of Seth. It is the good against the evil.

Winner of its brother, it is adored by the kings as Hor Noubti, “Horus victorious of Seth”.

Under the Ptolémée S, the victorious gods of Seth were appreciated considerably Egyptians, and the Macedonians built the temple of Nubt (Ombos) in the honor of Haroëris and Sobek.

It is represented under the features of a man with head of falcon crowned of the solar disk, crown Atef, or crown Hedjet (white crown of High-Egypt).

Photographs