KOM-OMBO. 
The principal remains are those of a double Temple dedicated to two deities, to whom 
equal honours were paid. It is Ptolemaic, and a Greek inscription over the entrance 
of one of the adyta informs us that part of it was erected by the soldiery stationed in 
the Ombite nome during the reigns of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, “gods Philometres” 
(the sixth Ptolemy and his wife and sister). 
Sevek, or rather Sevek-ra, and Aroeris, are the gods of the Temple, and it is curious 
to observe, both in the hieroglyphics and arrangement of the building, how carefully 
their equality was preserved, so that no preference should be given either to one or 
the other. In the Greek inscription I have just mentioned, the latter is called 
“ Aroeris, the great god Apollo.” “ He was brother of Osiris and son of the Sun,” 
says Plutarch, who is confirmed by the hieroglyphics. He appears, in fact, to be a 
deification of the sun’s rays ; and as the hawk typified that luminary as the emblem 
of light and spirit, so Aroeris is symbolically represented by the hawk. Sevek-ra was 
another deified attribute of the Sun, represented by a crocodile, whose scales were 
supposed to have some agreement therewith. Sevek is here called (and also at Thebes) 
the father of all the gods, and, therefore, has some claim to be considered as Saturn. 
In the interior of the Temple he is mentioned as “ Sevek, who struck Apoph the 
serpent in the presence of the Boat of the Sun.” Both these deities are called “Lords 
of Ombos,” but Sevek appears to have been the more ancient, and, as deity of the 
Ombite nome, his figure was struck upon the Roman coins. 
The portico has consisted of fifteen columns, of which thirteen remain standing. 
It is a magnificent structure even in ruins. On the architrave the winged globe is 
twice sculptured, the odd number of columns in front compelling or being the result 
of this double arrangement. From the portico are two doorways leading to an area, 
supported by columns; but, though these parts of the Temple are double, there is 
no absolute division until we come to the adyta, which alone were separated. 
A lofty brick wall of circuit has inclosed the sacred precincts; and built into the 
south-east side of this is an old gateway of the time of Thothmes III., from the 
hieroglyphics of which we learn that a Temple of Sevek then existed. In a line 
with this, on the side of the river, is a portion of a large pylon of the Ptolemaic era, 
that seems to have stood opposite to the smaller Temple (called the Typhonium, and 
consecrated to the third member of the Triad), of which the fragments cover the 
banks of the river, having fallen from being undermined by the current. Some 
fragments of columns show that they were surmounted by the head of Athor, as at 
Dendera. Some stones show it to have been built from the materials of a previous 
one of Thothmes. A small basalt altar lies near. We all read of the enmity of 
the Tentyrites and Ombites, but it strikes me, from the distance of the belligerent 
parties, their quarrels could not have been either very frequent or very bloody, 
notwithstanding all tales to the contrary. To prevent the ill-feeling and hatred that 
