• Africa
      • Back
      • Algeria
          • Back
          • Aurès Mountains - Timgad
          • Béni Hamidane - Tiddis
          • Djémila - Cuicul
          • Tazoult - Lambaesis
          • Tipaza - Tipasa
      • Egypt
          • Back
          • Lower Egypt
              • Back
              • Abu Gorab - Sun Temples
              • Abu Roash - Pyramid of Djedefre
              • Abusir - Necropolis
              • Dashur - Bent Pyramid
              • Giza Plateau - Pyramid Complex
              • Giza Plateau - Great Sphinx of Giza
              • Giza Plateau - Valley Temple
              • Hawara - Labyrinth of Egypt
              • Saqqara - Serapeum
              • Zawyet El Aryan - Unfinished Pyramid
          • Upper Egypt
              • Back
              • Abu Simbel - Temple Complex
              • Abydos - Osirion
              • Aswan - Elephantine Island
              • Aswan - Unfinished Obelisk
              • Dendera - Temple Complex
              • Kom Ombo - Temple of Kom Ombo
              • Thebes - Karnak Temple Complex
              • Thebes - Luxor Temple
      • Ethiopia
          • Back
          • Axum - Obelisks
          • Lalibela - Rock-Hewn Churches
      • Libya
          • Back
          • Khoms - Leptis Magna
          • Zawiya - Sabratha
      • Morocco
          • Back
          • Meknes - Volubilis
      • Tunisia
          • Back
          • Bizerte - Utica
          • El Djem - Thysdrus
          • El Fahs - Thuburbo Majus
          • Jendouba - Bulla Regia
          • Mornag - Uthina
          • Téboursouk - Dougga
          • Tunis - Carthage
  • Asia
      • Back
      • Cambodia
          • Back
          • Phumi Boeng Mealea - Beng Mealea Temple
          • Prasat Bakong - Preah Ko Temple
          • Siem Reap - Angkor Thom Temple Complex
          • Siem Reap - Angkor Wat Temple
          • Siem Reap - Bakong Temple
          • Siem Reap - Banteay Srei Temple
          • Siem Reap - Bayon Temple
          • Siem Reap - East Mebon Temple
          • Siem Reap - Neak Poan Temple
          • Siem Reap - Pre Rup Temple
          • Siem Reap - Preah Kahn Temple
          • Siem Reap - Ta Prohm Temple
      • China
          • Back
          • Nanjing - Yangshan Quarry
          • Shiyan Beicun - Longyou Caves
      • India
          • Back
          • Ellora - Kailasa Temple
          • Warangal - Warangal Fort
      • Indonesia
          • Back
          • West Java - Gunung Padang
      • Israel
          • Back
          • Jerusalem - Western Stone
      • Japan
          • Back
          • Asuka - Ishibutai Kofun
          • Asuka - Masuda-no-iwafune
          • Yonaguni - Yonaguni Monument
      • Jordan
          • Back
          • Jerash - Gerasa
          • Wadi Musa - Petra
      • Laos
          • Back
          • Xiangkhouang - Plain of Jars
      • Lebanon
          • Back
          • Baalbek - Baalbek Temple Complex
      • Micronesia
          • Back
          • Pohnpei - Nan Madol
      • South Korea
          • Back
          • Ganghwa - Ganghwa Dolmen Site
          • Hwasun - Hwasun Dolmen Sites
          • Maesan - Gochang Dolmen Site
      • Syria
          • Back
          • Arwad - Arwad Wall
      • Tonga
          • Back
          • Tongatapu - Ha'amonga 'a Maui
      • Turkey
          • Back
          • Anatolia - Gobekli Tepe
          • Anatolia - Hattusa Complex
          • Güzelyurt - Gaziemir Underground City
          • Mazı - Mazı Underground City
          • Melikgazi - Ağırnas Underground City
          • Nevşehir - Derinkuyu Underground City
          • Nevşehir - Kaymakli Underground City
          • Nevşehir - Özkonak Underground City
  • Europe
      • Back
      • Croatia
          • Back
          • Split - Diocletian's Palace
      • England
          • Back
          • Avebury - Stone Circles
          • Wiltshire - Stonehenge
      • France
          • Back
          • Arles - Arles Amphitheatre
          • Carnac - Carnac Stones
          • Dol-de-Bretagne - Menhir de Champ-Dolent
          • Kerloas - Menhir de Kerloas
          • Locmariaquer - Locmariaquer Megaliths
          • Nîmes - Arena of Nîmes
          • Saumur - Dolmen de Bagneux
      • Germany
          • Back
          • Blieskastel - Gollenstein
      • Greece
          • Back
          • Athens - Acropolis of Athens
          • Mycenae - Treasury of Atreus
      • Ireland
          • Back
          • Carlow - Brownshill Dolmen
          • Meath - Newgrange
      • Italy
          • Back
          • Ercolano - Herculaneum
          • Naples - Pompeii
          • Ostia - Ostia Antica
          • Rome - Colosseum
          • Rome - Pantheon
          • Sicily - Selinunte
          • Sicily - Valley of the Temples
          • Verona - Arena di Verona
      • Malta
          • Back
          • Corradino - Kordin Temples
          • Mgarr - Ta' Hagrat Temple Complex
          • Paola - Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum
          • Qrendi - Hagar Qim Temple Complex
          • Qrendi - Mnajdra Temple Complex
          • Tarxien - Tarxien Temple Complex
          • Zebbiegh - Skorba Temple Complex
      • Netherlands
          • Back
          • Drenthe - Hunebedden Dolmens
      • Russia
          • Back
          • Caucasus Mountains - Dolmens
      • Scotland
          • Back
          • Callanish - Callanish Stones
          • Orkney - Maeshowe
      • Spain
          • Back
          • Antequera - Dolmens of Antequera
          • Mérida - Augusta Emerita
  • North America
      • Back
      • Bahamas
          • Back
          • Bimini - Bimini Road
      • Costa Rica
          • Back
          • Isla del Cano - Stone Spheres
      • Cuba
          • Back
          • Pinar del Rio - Cuban Underwater City
      • Guatemala
          • Back
          • Flores - Tikal
      • Honduras
          • Back
          • Copán Ruinas - Copan
      • Mexico
          • Back
          • La Venta - La Venta Complex
          • Palenque - Palenque Complex
          • San Lorenzo - San Lorenzo Tenochtitlan
          • Teotihuacan - Teotihuacan Complex
          • Tinum - Chichen Itza
          • Tres Zapotes - Tres Zapotes Complex
      • United States
          • Back
          • Florida - Coral Castle
  • South America
      • Back
      • Bolivia
          • Back
          • Tiwanaku - Kalasasaya
          • Tiwanaku - Pumapunku
      • Chile
          • Back
          • Easter Island - Moai
      • Columbia
          • Back
          • Huila - San Agustin Archaeological Park
      • Peru
          • Back
          • Aramu Muru - Gate of the Gods
          • Cusco - Coricancha
          • Cusco - Hatun Rumiyoc
          • Cusco - Sacsayhuaman
          • Huaytará - Temple of Huaytará
          • Ollantaytambo - Temple Hill Fortress
          • Urubamba - Machu Picchu
  • News
  • Blog

Kom Ombo - Temple of Kom Ombo


The Temple of Kom Ombo is an unusual double temple in the town of Kom Ombo in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt. It was constructed during the Ptolemaic dynasty, 180–47 BC. Some additions to it were later made during the Roman period. The building is unique because its 'double' design meant that there were courts, halls, sanctuaries and rooms duplicated for two sets of gods. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world with Hathor and Khonsu. Meanwhile, the northern part of the temple was dedicated to the falcon god Haroeris ("Horus the Elder"), along "with Tasenetnofret (the Good Sister, a special form of Hathor or Tefnet/Tefnut) and Panebtawy (Lord of the Two Lands)." The temple is atypical because everything is perfectly symmetrical along the main axis.


The texts and reliefs in the temple refer to cultic liturgies which were similar to those from that time period. The temple itself had a specific theology. The characters invoked the gods of Kom Ombo and their legend. Two themes were present in this temple: the universalist theme and the local theme. The two combine to form the theology of this temple. A temple was already built in the New Kingdom to honor these gods, however, this site gained in importance during the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Little remains of the New Kingdom temple. The existing temple was begun by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180–145 BC) at the beginning of his reign and added to by other Ptolemies, most notably Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator (51–47 BC), who built the inner and outer hypostyles. The scene on the inner face of the rear wall of the temple is of particular interest, and "probably represents a set of surgical instruments."

Much of the temple has been destroyed by the Nile, earthquakes, and later builders who used its stones for other projects. Some of the reliefs inside were defaced by Copts who once used the temple as a church. All the temples buildings in the southern part of the plateau were cleared of debris and restored by Jacques de Morgan in 1893.

A few of the three hundred crocodile mummies discovered in the vicinity are displayed in The Crocodile Museum.

In September 2018, the Egyptian antiquities ministry announced that a sandstone sphinx statue had been discovered at the temple. The statue, measuring approximately 28 cm in width and 38 cm in height, likely dates to the Ptolemaic Dynasty

Megalithic Builders is an index of ancient sites from around the world that contain stone megaliths or interlocking stones. Genus Dental Sacramento

2025 Megalithic Builders
To Top