Edfu - The Temple of Horus

In the afternoon we were placed on a horse and buggy, and driven through the streets of Edfu to go to The Temple of Horus. This experience was exactly how I’d pictured the Middle East! The sights and sounds of wild traffic, the rush rush of people, the bazaars, the women in full hijab, the men in galabayas and headdress, kids on donkey carts, it was amazing!

The temple was built by Ptolemy between 237 and 57 BC, and is dedicated to Horus, the falcon god son of Osiris and Isis. It was really interesting, and our guide Hany explained many of the hieroglyphs and stories associated.

The inner sanctum had a highly polished granite crypt, so polished it looked like silver,that used to house a golden statue of Horus. There is a wooden boat before the shrine, that would have taken the statue of Horus out on procession to be worshipped.

Back on our boat, we continued up theNile, through a lock at Esna. These small wooden boats squeezed into the lock with us, to try to sell their wares. Towels, shawls, galabeyas - they toss them up on to the boat, and people would start to barter with them. Quite funny asthma people would often throw them back, and at times they’d miss and land in the water.. not daunted,they’d pick them up and try again!Read more