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Published: November 12th 2009
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Tourists
We're trying to get into the main entrance at the Temple of Horus It’s Sunday morning … I’m back on track.
We’re in Edfu, or ancient Djeba as it was once called. Ahmed tells us we’re going to the Temple of Horus, the falcon headed god. Usually we walk or get in a van. Not this time. Waiting at the dock are horse and buggy after horse and buggy. The buggies are black with silver trim, some decorated more than others. Lots of colorful dangles. I’m liking this. Ahmed escorts us to one of the buggies and we hop in the back. A little squishy, but we manage. Ahmed sits with the driver. And we’re off. At a pretty fair clip. We maneuver around other carts, and are delivered to the front of the temple. Ahmed tells our driver to stay put, and he guides us through the hordes of tourists.
It’s so crowded that we can’t get into the temple, so we go around, and finally manage to get inside.
Edfu is also by the Nile (and has its own Nile-o-meter, which we recognized because we are paying attention to Ahmed), half-way between Aswan (where we started the river boat trip) and Luxor (where we’re headed). According to ancient stories,
Front
Temple of Horus this was where Horus (falcon god) battled with Seth, his uncle, who had murdered Horus’s father Osiris. Chopped him up in 14 pieces he did and scattered them all over Egypt. Here’s the myth in a nutshell: Once upon a time Good King Osiris taught the Egyptians how to live, worship and grow corn. His jealous brother, Seth, murdered Osiris and cut up his body and scattered the pieces all over Egypt. Isis, Osiris’s wife, and Isis’s sister Nephithys, collected all the pieces. With the help of Anubis (jackal-headed god of embalmers) and Thoth (ibis-headed god of wisdom) they put Osiris back together as the first mummy. Using her magic, Isis brought Osiris back to life and conceived a son, Horus. Horus vowed to avenge his father. Osiris in the meantime went down to the underworld and became the lord and judge of the dead. Got it?
So this temple is at the site of the big battle between Horus and Seth. Construction was finished in 57 BC, but buried under sand and silt from the Nile for 2,000 years. It is considered the best preserved temple and is bigger than all the temples except Karnak (which we will
The Battle
Carvings depicting the battle of Horus and Osiris. see in Luxor). There is a huge black granite statue of Horus as a falcon wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt at the entrance. Inside there is a courtyard with columns, then a second smaller hall with chambers on each side, where gifts for the gods were stored before they were taken into the hall of offerings. There are stairs that lead from one side, across the roof and down the other side. Painted on the ceiling was the goddess of the sky, Nut, showing both the day and the night. Ahmed pointed out that the stairs were a reminder of the travel of the sun, day to night. I thought it was quite clever. There were many clever reminders of the ancient stories in the temples.
Kim, Rich and I struggled to squeeze our way up to the front of the chapel, at the very rear of the sanctuary, to see a reproduction of the processional barque of Horus. Getting to the front was a feat in and of itself … I am telling you, these tourists don’t understanding queuing!!! You know how we stand in line at the checkout counter, wait for people to
Stairs Up
These stairs spiraled around to the roof. The sun side of Nut. get off in front of us on an airplane? Manners people, manners!!!! I did have to get a little feisty a couple of times and stand my ground. I’m all for being Mrs. Nicey Nice, but sometimes enough is enough. But we got up there, and I firmly planted my feet and decided I wasn’t going to leave until I was good and ready, thank you very much. It was hot, I was hot, there were way too many unmannered people, and my stubbornness kicked in. I still think I left before I was ready. Okay, I am only a little feisty!! Hahaha
I really liked this Temple. I mean I liked them all, but this one was special to me. The carvings also depicted the great goddess Hathor, as the consort of Horus. And I liked the representation of the goddess Nut.
We have our free time to roam, not long, you know, we’re on a schedule. We find Ahmed, follow him to our waiting horse and buggy and we are back to the boat. We always seem to get there next to the last! But never last!!!
Have we talked about tipping? Oh my, oh
Stairs Down
These stairs came straight down. my. Everyone wants a tip. Poor Rich got stuck with being tipper man, a job Kim and I wanted no part of. Every time we left a site, we had to run the bazaar gauntlet, just like Main Street in Disneyland, but here the vendors are in your face trying to sell you something. And then you gotta haggle. I don’t like to haggle. I don’t like to think someone is trying to rip me off either. Most of my souvenir purchases were painful, so I didn’t purchase much. What I did get was made easier by Ahmed who negotiated for me. I was grateful, but it wasn’t fun.
The rest of the day we laid around the top deck as we made our way to Luxor. Tea was served on deck. Our boat had to go through a couple of locks before we docked at Luxor. Since we are on crunch time to get everything done, Ahmed tells us we’re going to the Temple of Luxor this evening.
Unbelievable seeing a temple at night. What a difference. This temple to me was overwhelming. Maybe it was the night. I don’t know, but it was impressive. My pictures
Barque
Model of Horus's sacred barque. have what I am calling spirit lights on them. Same with Kim and Rich. We have other pics at night at places … no little lights. So that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.
Here are the facts:
Monument: Temple of Amun, various chapels
Location: Luxor, Thebes (east bank)
Dates of Construction: Probably built on an older temple, started 18th dynasty to Graeco-Roman period.
Dedication: Main Temple - Amun of Luxor. Chapels - Mut, Khonsu
Three thousand years of growth. Still standing. Don’t make them like they used to, right? Many rulers worked on it, but Ramses II added the most.
There’s so much written about this temple -- there’s even a mosque built into it. You know the old saying, “the gods of the old religion become of the devil of the new.” Christians came and tried to erase all the carvings by defacing them. Then the Mosque. But obviously enough was preserved to give us a glimpse of these fascinating ancient times and people.
We took a detour after Temple Luxor. Went to a bazaar in the town. Gathered enough strength to purchase a few items. Thank you Ahmed for running interference.
Horus
Horus as the falcon god. Rich did his own haggling, and although he wasn’t quite happy with the price, he purchased. We took our few purchases and walked back to the boat. We were hungry when we got there!
Dinner was Chinese. And yet another towel sculpture on my bed. I got a baby sculpture, Kim and Rich got a croc. Even our boat neighbors were curious about who got what sculpture. We had a good time going from room to room looking at towel sculptures. We gave our cabin guy a generous tip. We were glad to do that.
Evening entertainment was a belly dancer. We took a peek and went back to ogling our towel sculptures. I think I could have given her a run for her money, and that’s not saying much!!! It’s not Vegas, ya know!!
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