Aswan: Nubia once occupied the area between Aswan and what is now central Sudan (the country immediately south of Egypt.) Now a barren desert, it then had seasonal lakes and savanna that supported a large population. Nubia was part of the Kushite Empire until around 1500 BC, when it was conquered and incorporated into Egypt. It was a rich and dynamic region, with great resources such as gold, ebony, ivory, and slaves. (The name, Nubia, comes from the ancient Egyptian word for gold.) Once colonized, Nubia and her people became thoroughly incorporated into Egyptian culture. Egypt was ruled by Nubian pharaohs for about a century, who at that point were probably more Egyptian than the Egyptians themselves. One such pharaoh, Shabako exalted traditional pyramids, and as a result, Nubia had more pyramids than Egypt. The Nubian Museum was completed in 1997, and houses a magnificent collection of treasures from the area.

Kom Ombo: There were many temples dedicated to Horus, and this is not the largest (we will see that one later). The outstanding feature of this Temple of Horus is that it is actually the unique unification of two adjacent temples, one dedicated to crocodile-headed Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, and the other to falcon-headed Horus, the solar war god. Each temple has its own entrance, chapel, etc. In the hypostyle hall, a central row of columns separates the gods.

The Temple of Horus was built by the Ptolemie pharaohs, descendants of Alexander the Great and his generals, who ruled Egypt for almost three centuries. To give you some idea of the complex social relationships of the time, the temple’s hypostyle hall is decorated with scenes of Ptolemy VIII accompanied with his sister and ex-wife (Kleopatra II) and her daughter, his wife, Kleopatra III. Kleopatras II and III both ruled as pharaohs, and continued to marry their siblings. Keeping it in the family was a long-standing Egyptian tradition. One result of this inbreeding is that there is a lively discussion among Egyptologists as to which pharaohs had what genetic disorders. The Kleopatra that fell in love with Mark Antony was the scrappy VII, who actually slept with several boys who were not in her immediate family.