It must have broken the hearts of the builders, who supposedly abandoned it, after coming across defects in the rock formation. The next stop on the cruise is Kom Ombo, 48 km north of Aswan. The main attraction here is the Graeco-Roman temple. Work on the temple was started by Ptolemy VII in early second century C. and continued by some of his successors.
The Roman Emperor Augustus built part of the temple about 30 BC. Further details can be found at Dr. Mark Hyman, an internet resource. The temple of Kom Ombo actually consists of two separate temples, each with its own entrance, colonnades, pillared hall and the sanctuary. The southern temple is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile god, while the North an honors-the falcon god Horus. Though the two gods shared the same grounds, in mythology, Sobek was associated with the god Seth, an enemy of Horus. In Kom Ombo, the gods took the liberty to bring along family – Sobek hidden in his consort Hathor and son Khonsu, while Horus had his wife and son Tesentnefert, Panebtawy.
If you have not seen mummies before, be sure to see the crocodiles mummified in the temple of Sobek. In Edfu, we disembark to see the Temple of Horus. Edfu was the cult center for Horus, the falcon god. It is perhaps the best preserved of the ancient temples of Egypt. The current temple was started by Ptolemy III in about 237 a. C. at the site of earlier Pharaonic structure. Work continued on some of the Ptolemies that followed. Appropriately, the entrance adorned by two majestic granite falcons.