Kom Ombo Temple

Kom Ombo Temple located at the small town of Kom Ombo, it is situated on the East side of the Nile, 45 kilometers to the north of the city of Aswan and about 800 kilometers to the south of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, Surrounded by fields of sugarcane and corn, Kom Ombo is a pleasant agriculture town that now hosts many Nubians were displaced when the Nile flooded their hometowns after the construction of the Nasser Lake.

The word "Kom" in Arabic means the small hill and the word "Ombo", in the Hieroglyphic ancient Egyptian language, means "the gold". Therefore, the word Kom Ombo means the hill of the gold and The word Ombo actually originated from the Pharaonic word "Nbty", an adjective derived from the word Nebo that meant "gold". During the Coptic period, the word was slightly changed to become Enbo, and when the Arabic language became common in Egypt, the word became "Ombo".

Although Kom Ombo is famous today for being constructed during the Greco Roman era, This old temple was erected during the reigns of both, King Tuthmosis III and then during the ruling period of Queen Hatshepsut, who were belonged to the 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom. Then The temple of Kom Ombo was built during the period from 205 till 180 BC in the ruling period of King Ptolemy V. The construction process of the temple went on for many years afterward from 180 till 169 BC with each king having his addition to the complex.

The Ptolemies have constructed the Temple of Kom Ombo for the worship of two gods, Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus, the falcon god,The double entrance of Kom Ombo Temple, The Temple of Kom Ombo was constructed on the ruins of a much older temple called "Ber Sobek", or the house of the god Sobek.

Kom Ombo Temple was mainly constructed with limestone in the shape of a rectangle, with a plan and a design which is quite similar to many temples constructed in the Greco Roman period like the Temples of Dendara and Philae which are considered among the most important monuments in Upper Egypt.