Temple of Kom Ombo

The Temple of Kom Ombo was built between 180 and 47 BCE during the Ptolemaic Dynasty and is located on the banks of the Nile in the village of the same name. The temple was dedicated to the gods, the falcon-headed god Horus, who is the first "god of the kingdom," and the local crocodile-headed god Sobek. It is an unusual feature to dedicate one temple to two gods. The temple is symmetrical along the main axis, like an architectural duplicate, and also similar to the Temple of Edfu. Throughout the millennia, the temple was harmed due to natural reasons such as earthquakes and the floods of the Nile, as well as by Copts when they were using the temple as a church. French mining engineer and archaeologist Jacques de Morgan first restored it in 1893. The Temple of Kom Ombo is generally the first destination after departing Aswan if you are touring Egypt by cruise ship.