January 15

This morning we left the boat bright and early (7:30 am) so that we could spend a good two hours at the Edfu Temple, before getting back to the boat for the 10:00 departure. This temple was visually astounding. It is very well preserved, though it is much younger than the other temples we have visited. This temple was constructed by Ptolemic pharaohs (Ptolemy was one of Alexander the Great’s generals who claimed Egypt as his land to rule after Alexander’s death) between 237 and 57 BCE. The façade (known as a pylon) was constructed by the famous Cleopatra’s father, Ptolemy XII. The temple was built in the same style as those from 1000 years previous. It is incredible to me that a particular style can last so long (in America, styles from just 30-40 years ago we think of as horribly outdated).
After Egypt’s decline such temples were no longer maintained or used and, as with the Temple Luxor, and when the protective mudbrick walls were no longer constructed to protect it, the Nile flooded and eventually filled the temple with tens of feet of mud. In the Middle Ages, the poor would come and live here and the smoke from their fires can be seen on the ceilings, as can mold, a consequence of the water they used. This use seems ironically appropriate because this temple’s construction allowed for greater use by the common people.
A desire was growing for more contact with the gods by the common people. The temple was consequently constructed with an external corridor. The outer wall of the temple itself became the main prayer wall, as the people believed that the god resided just behind that wall.
It is incredible how every surface of the temple is decorated with either incisions (the outer walls) or reliefs (the inner). There is even a purpose behind the different methods: is was taboo to cross the shadow of another, therefore the images on the outer walls would be subject to the bright sun, and event the gods in the images shouldn’t cross the shadow of another god’s image. And to top it off, every single image was painted! It is no wonder that this temple took over 180 years to build, which was a typical amount of time for such a project.
After visiting the temple, we got back on the boat where most of us spent the rest of the morning reading Book 2 of Herodotus’ The Histories. Every now and then, I look up from my book and marvel at the surroundings. It is so beautiful here. There is never a cloud in the sky, the sun is warm and the breeze is cool. Just behind the lush greenery lie desert and sandy mountains. I see now how much these people depend on the Nile for their very existence. It just wouldn’t be possible to survive in this region otherwise.
This afternoon we visited the Kom Ombo Temple. This too is a Hellenistic temple built sometime between 200 BCE and 200 CE. As with the Edfu Temple, this temple had an outer corridor, though it was added later, and the previous outer corridor became an inner corridor (we know this because of the difference in detail of the decorations, as the newer and less detailed decorations reflect a time with less wealth. The most interesting aspect of this temple is its dedication. It is evenly divided in half so as to serve two different gods: Horus and Sobek. Another distinction of this temple is the description of the temple’s particular calendar, incised on the walls. The Egyptians had an almost perfect calendar, with 12 months of 30 days each, and at the end of the year, they added 5 additional days as celebrations of the birthdays of the 5 major gods.
Tonight was Reed’s birthday, so the waiters all came out with drums and tambourines and sang to him in Egyptian. We followed up their song with “Happy Birthday.” Apparently, they knew it was his birthday because they looked through our passports. Tonight will be an early night, everyone is pretty tired, esp. since no one got enough sleep last night. I’m keeping up with my journals and assigned reading, so far. My goal is to have all my work finished by the time we have free days, so I can take the entire day off. Our first free day is in Cairo. I want to look around a little bit, but mostly I want to find a café and go on the internet. Then I want to read my book. It’s nice not having TV as a distraction, though I have no idea what is going on in the states. I’ll check the news when I can get online.