This morning, the newcomers were up early to visit Edfu Temple. As soon as they were all back on board the boats raced to be first back to Esna Lock. Apparently, rather than being a free for all to pass through the lock, boats are now allocated a number as they pass a certain point on the river. The boats then moor up until it is their turn to go through the lock, which is much more civilised. We were about 8th in the queue and passed through the lock uneventfully.
A short while later, in mid morning we moored up at Esna. This time the temple was within walking distance from the dock, so we all set off in a crocodile formation behind Amin to see the small temple dedicated to the ram headed god Knum.
We
must have looked quite a sight to the locals, picking our way through the donkey
carts and free roaming goats. Little children ran alongside some of the tourists,
probably begging but we were told to ignore them or they wouldn't leave us alone.
This temple dates to the Greek and Roman periods. It lies several feet below the level of the present town and has not yet been completely excavated. The roof of the temple is supported by 24, 12 meter high columns, which are all decoratively carved and still have their original colours. The ceiling of the hypostyle hall is decorated with both Egyptian and Roman Astronomical figures. The ram figure of Knum features strongly on the walls. In the courtyard is a statue of the lion headed goddess, Menheyet who was named as the consort of Knum.
The
tops of the columns are extremely decorative and of some of them are small statues
of frogs, which are thought to signify that the columns are representative of
the original primordial swamps.
There is not much else to see here and as we walked towards the exit, Amin asked Ray if we would like to join him for a shisha. Not to pass up on this invitation, Ray and I and Wendy and John went to a local café just outside the temple. Amin ordered a shisha and the owner brought one each for them. We were given a mint tea or Turkish coffee and we sat in the shade for half an hour or so, chatting, and watched a local goat family wandering around.
The
owner brought us each a piece of freshly made bread, which was a bit like pitta
bread and quite tasty. We then had to make our way back to the boat for the
final part of our journey back to Luxor.
We were back on board in time for lunch and a pleasant afternoon's sail back down river. We sat around chatting as the banks of the Nile went by, enjoying the beautiful scenery and our last afternoon on board. As an extra bonus, Amin joined us and told us about life in modern Egypt. It was really interesting to learn about the laws of the country and about their culture. Especially to learn that they still had the death penalty for rape and murder, which as Amin explained kept the serious crime figures fairly low. Also he explained about the cultural differences between life in the countryside, which is very primitive by our standards and life in the cities, which is very fast moving and luxurious by comparison. Although the rural inhabitants mostly now have electricity ( and a satelite dish attached to more or less every roof), the houses are still made from mud brick with no roof or a roof of palm leaves and one outside cold tap. Most of the transport for farmers is by donkey and donkey cart, with some of the more wealthy owning a tatty run down old landrover.
All too soon it was time to get ready for our last dinner on board. The week seemed to have passed ever so quickly and it was sad to think we would be leaving our new found friends and the luxury of our cruise. The boat docked again at Luxor and after dinner we all exchanged e-mail addresses and promised to write and exchange photos. It was then time for our last night on the Nile.
