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Nile Valley Towns

Kom Ombo: The Double Temple to Sobek and Horus

Best Time to VisitSunset, for warm light over the river
Average Visit1–1.5 hours
Entry Fee300 EGP (Crocodile Museum separate)
Getting ThereBetween Edfu and Aswan, almost always visited via Nile cruise

Kom Ombo is unlike any other temple on the Nile — a perfectly symmetrical double temple, built with two of everything: two entrances, two courts, two hypostyle halls, two sanctuaries, split down a central axis between two gods who, in myth, were rivals.

What You’ll See

The western half honors Horus the Elder (Haroeris); the eastern half honors Sobek, the crocodile god, worshipped here because real crocodiles once basked on this bend of the Nile. Next to the temple, the small Crocodile Museum displays dozens of mummified crocodiles recovered from nearby tombs — an unusually vivid, slightly unsettling window into how directly ancient Egyptians worshipped the animals they lived alongside.

Real crocodiles once sunned themselves on this exact bend of the Nile — which is why the temple honors one.

Practical Tips

Kom Ombo sits between Edfu and Aswan, and is almost always visited as a Nile cruise stop rather than a standalone trip. Sunset visits catch the temple in warm light directly over the river — one of the most photogenic moments on a standard Luxor–Aswan itinerary.

Location