Traveling Huntleys

Inspiring travel stories, tips, and guides from a couple exploring the world one destination at a time.

Felucca

Kom Ombo, Egypt

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Kom Ombo is nestled along the eastern bank of the Nile in southern Egypt. It is a remarkable site that offers a glimpse into the rich tapestry of ancient Egyptian history. Unlike many temples that honor a single deity, Kom Ombo is unique in being a double temple, dedicated simultaneously to Sobek, the crocodile god, and Horus the Falcon, the sky god. This dual dedication is evident in the temple’s symmetrical design, with duplicate courts, halls and sanctuaries reflecting the importance of both gods in the region’s spiritual and cultural life.

Kom Ombo double temple Ptolemaic columns rising above the east bank of the Nile at golden hour, Egypt
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Dendera Temple, Egypt: Hathor, Cleopatra’s Relief & Life on the Nile

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The day after Karnak Temple, we made the short drive north along the Nile to Dendera — about 65 miles and a world apart. Where Karnak overwhelms with scale and crowds, Dendera is intimate and extraordinarily well-preserved. The Temple of Hathor here dates primarily from the Greco-Roman period, built between the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, and it survives in a state that most Egyptian temples can only dream of: ceilings that still hold their vivid color, column faces that haven’t been chiseled away, and on most mornings, room to actually see it without pressing through a crowd.

Dendera Temple complex exterior, one of Egypt's best-preserved Greco-Roman era temples, Qena Governorate, Upper Egypt
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