The Motor Ship Queen Isis docked at the town of Edfu in the morning and after another early breakfast we were taken by coach for a five minute ride to the Temple of Horus sited on the outskirts of the town.

    On later trips to Edfu I chose to walk from the ship to the temple and saw the town at first hand. A bit of a culture shock for the fainthearted. The back streets were dusty and dirty, strewn with rubbish, building rubble from partially demolished buildings, and the occasional dead animal but I am pleased to say that like elsewhere in Egypt conditions are improving on a daily basis, but still be careful about drinking the water. That being said the biggest carrier of the "Tummy bug" in Egypt is the paper money. It is always dirty, and since my wife refused to handle it, in any way, after being told about this by a Egyptian, she has been free of Pharaoh's Revenge ever since.

   Incidentally, most toilet facilities outside of the boat and hotels leave a lot to be desired, and the toilet at the temple in 1989 was unbelievable. An excrement splattered hole in the ground. Hopefully it has been modernised.

 

 

 

     A statue to "peace" in the town is quite a work of art, and it would seem that the modern Egyptians are as equally gifted as their ancestors.

     On arrival at the temple one is greeted with a fabulous view of the rear of the temple enclosure wall which is adorned with a long line of 15 foot high reliefs of the gods and pharaohs.

 

 

    Entry to the temple is around the front, of course, and we had to walk along the side of the massive enclose wall which gave an indelible impression of just how big this place really was, the massive left arm of the twin pylons looming high above our heads in the distance. A novel short cut to the front was accomplished by means of a tiny dark tunnel through the heart of the pylon. Click on the thumbnail for a large plan of the complex. Without doubt this was becoming another Indian Jones adventure with dark tunnels, narrow stairways disappearing upwards into the gloom, giant bird statues everywhere, and the picture stories of the god Horus on every square inch of the walls, inside and out. These priests lived and breathed their religion on a daily basis. Going through the massive pylon gateway we emerge into a huge pillar-lined courtyard.

 

 

 

Numerous statues of the god Horus in his form of a falcon bird are dotted at strategic positions guarding the entrance to the temple and the hypostyle hall.

     Some of them are over 12 feet tall making them the original big bird.

 

   

 

 

    From the brightness of the open courtyard we proceed with caution into the cool gloom of the Hypostyle Hall. Unlike at the Dendara and Esna temples, there is no chatter of noisy sparrows here. The whole of the open section at the front of the Hall has been encased in a gigantic open-work wire mesh to keep them out, and it works. One can sit inside in total silence, except for the intrusion of Tour Guides chattering away in every language known to mankind.

The Hypostyle Hall has unusual frond topped columns and displays the usual majesty and magnificence associated with a solemn temple of the ancients.

 

 

    Every wall is covered with hieroglyphic text with prayers to the gods, dedications and the specific instructions about what to do, and when to do it, especially on the walls of the small gap between the temple and the outer wall.

 

 

     The final destination is the Naos, the Sanctuary of the Holy Barque and the original Altar, which is carved out of one massive piece of the hardest black fine grained granite. Some 10 feet high, it's huge, and must have taken the artisans an awfully long time to carve it out, polish and inscribe such an edifice. The wooden barque is not original, but a fine detailed replica.

   Back, outside of the main temple, we walked some considerable distance to get some long range photos before calling it a day and heading back to the ship, for dinner, and an overnight sail to Aswan, bypassing Kom Ombo Temple which we would visit on the return trip back to Luxor. At a much later date we managed a night time photo of Edfu Temple.

In the morning we will dock on the Corniche in Aswan, a nice quiet Nubian town.

 

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