Edfu

We arrived at Edfu on our fourth morning. Edfu is known for being the location of the Temple of Horus, which was built sometime between 237BC and 57BC, into the reign of Cleopatra VII (the famous one).

Of all the temples in Egypt, it is one of the best preserved. It is also the second largest temple, after Karnak (see earlier entry).

The temple is dedicated to Horus, who is the falcon god of ancient Egypt.

The inscriptions on the walls at the temple are very important because of the glimpse they provide about Egyptian language, myths and religion as it was absorbed into the Roman Empire (the beginning of the end so to speak).

Our tour guide Ahmed also told us about Horus and his epic battle with Set. Horus's mother was Isis, and her husband Osirus, Horus' father, was murdered by his brother Set and cut up into a bunch of little pieces and put in a box. Horus is known for avenging that death, although the battle took places thru several Dynasties.

At one point, Horus even ripped off one of Set's testicles. The story get's pretty deviant, regarding sex stuff, which is not appropriate for my family friendly blog. We'll just say that "junk" was flying everywhere. So anyway, the story goes that the gods were getting tired of this and so they proposed a boat race, with the winner being declared the ruler of Egypt. The rule was that the boats had to be made of stone, but Horus made his of wood to look like it was made of stone. So they have the boat race, Horus wins, yadda yadda yadda, and Set steps down as ruler.

This myth is important because it shows how Lower and Upper Egypt were united as one kingdom. The most famous part of Horus is his eye. The "eye of Horus" is said to provide strength and protection to Egyptian rulers.

When we got back to the boat, there was a cobra on my bed, compliments of housekeeping. Just like in Death on the Nile.