God of Gods
Horus was the God of Gods in ancient Egypt. When you think about it, that’s a heavy burden to carry. Being a God is tough enough, but being the God of Gods, seems like an impossible job. As we will see, Horus certainly had his challenges.
This morning we visited Horus’ temple in Edfu, which is a small river city here on the upper Nile (a.k.a.- the southern Nile). Our riverboat tour today started in Esna and proceeded towards Edfu for our Horus introduction. The plan was to then go on our way to Kom Ombo, another small city on the river and a competing commercial center in the day. The two temples stand in contrast, not do much in look and feel, but more in the historical details that define them.
The sun is setting right now as we motor up the Nile with the vegetation and desert, mingling to either side of the riverboat in the ever-changing landscape of southern Egypt. I can see the River widen for the turn at Kom Ombo, creating the perfect setting for lounging crocodiles, a particularly dangerous neighbor for the local Egyptians, who needed to cross the Nile every so often.
But first, back to Edfu and our God of Gods. The temple of Horus is the second largest temple from the days of ancient Egypt and it is the best preserved of all the ancient Egyptian temples. It dates from about 300 BC, which was the beginning of the Grecian period when Greece ruled Egypt. I asked Mahmood how it was that the Greeks would allow the Egyptians to maintain their religious temples with their very different polytheistic ways. He explained that the Greeks were quite tolerant of Egyptian religion, and that they did not stop these temples from being built. The temples were built over the course of as much as 180 years in places like here in Edfu. That means that something like five different pharaohs contributed to the building of the temple, adding their own additions accordingly. Given the massive size of the temple, it’s not hard to see how this might be a multi-generational effort. The most striking feature is what is called the pylon, which is basically the front façade and gate of the temple. It is meant to separate the worldly from the divine. Entrance into the various layers of the temple was achieved by ancient Egyptians based on their royal or clerical status. The innermost sanctum was accessible only to the pharaoh and the high priest. Everything I see in ancient Egypt tells me that while pharaohs had both a lot of power and a very, very good life, it was the high priests who really had the power and the glory. What is equally clear is that the common folk who looked to the temples for spiritual, medical and educational guidance, they had to be satisfied with looking at the outer walls, since they were not actually allowed in the structures they built with their own hands and their own taxes,
From the outside, the pylon makes the temple look like a fortress with massive walls of about 50 feet in height. In the center there is an opening or gate which has a 5 meter thick door. If you think about that the temple seems more like a fortress or fort then a church in that regard. However, those doors which have long since been pillaged and taken for use elsewhere were encrusted with gold and jewels of great value. That seems more church-like than fort-like. Above the gate is a V-shaped feature signifying the Nile and it’s delta, the giver of all good things to Egyptians. When you see the contrast between the green river banks and the nearby dusty desert hillsides, you understand the strength of their faith in their River and their gods who they felt controlled it.
Inside the temple are massive columns, courtyards, chambers, hallways, and secret rooms. The walls are all carved and once were mostly painted. The carvings all tell a story, and the story spans several centuries explaining the achievements of multiple pharaohs, and a long history of southern Egyptians. One story in particular tells of the annual meeting for 22 days of the god Horus and his wife, Hathor. The two apparently lived apart for most of the year separated by 20 miles of Nile river. Once a year, led by the priests, they would get in their riverboats and meet halfway. Then, the priest would say that Hathor would join Horus on his boat and go back to his temple to commune with one another for those 22 days. It is quite amazing to see these bas-relief pictures on every wall of the inside of the temple. The amount of craftsman time spent creating these temples was immense. Many of the figures are life-size, and the rows of storytelling figures rise to the full height of 50 feet in the interior. Every chamber and every hallway and every column is covered by the bas-relief. I took a picture with my hand up against a set of particularly crisp and clear hieroglyphics specifically to point out to my friends that we were still living in a time when any of us who come and visit these 3,000 year old ancient wonders can still actually touch these walls. These are the same walls crafted thousands of years ago in the time when the world was completely different. The experience is really quite mind-blowing and quite a bit different than seeing things at a roped-off distance in a museum, or (as is often my case), seeing pictures of them in the National Geographic
The temple of Horus was only modestly busy this morning. It was no way as crowded as the Valley of the Kings or the Valley of the Queens or even the Hatshepsut Temple, but it was just as amazing to visit. We then set out on the Nile, just like Horus and Hothar, heading for Kom Ombo to see Horus’ summer place.
We left the boat in Kom Ombo at 6:30 PM which means it was already dark out. Well, our itinerary said that we would be driven to the temple in Kom Ombo, Mahmood told us that it was situated right along the river, and would be an easy walk. I never really trust that sort of direction but I had no choice but to go along. About 100 stairs and 3,000 steps later we got up to the temple, which is the temple of Horus the Elder. Mahmood explained that this did not mean it was Horus’ father (who was Osiris), but rather a variation on the Horus theme, implying the later years of Horus’ life. I get a bit confused in the world of the Gods because I thought the whole idea of being a God was to be immortal, so I’m not sure what Horus the Elder really means in the context of Horus’ immortality. I guess you had to be an Egyptian to understand that, or maybe even a high priest.
The temple in Kom Ombo was a split temple shared by Horus the Elder and Sabek, the god of fertility. It seems that the people in this region split up, and either supported Horus or Sabek. By this time the Romans were involved in Egypt, so who knows who had to agree to what when it came to religion around here. For what I presume were fiscal reasons the high priest decided that sharing one temple would do just fine so long as it was all 50-50. So if you are a fan of Horus, you stay to the left and if you are a fan of Sabek you stay to the right. Hey, maybe Rome was playing them off against one another? Horus is portrayed with a falcon head and Sabek is portrayed with a crocodile head. One rules the skies, and the other rules the waters. I guess for an ancient Egyptian that pretty much, as they say, covers the waterfront so long as you keep the Greco-Roman wrestling to a minimum.
I’m thinking that we in this world of liberals and conservatives could take a lesson from the ancient Egyptians and perhaps learn to share our temples. But then I’m sure the Egyptians were not perfect either since their God of Gods could not keep the Israelites from heading east across the Red Sea to find their King of Kings.
GOOD ONE!