Scottish Tour Guide's Blog

Today, proved somewhat dismal in Glasgow, Scotland. There was persistent fog which closed the airport for sometime. I did manage to get out for a short while, to obtain images for my separate ancestry themed blog but, other than that little escapade, there were no real opportunities to obtain photographs of architecture or much else.

This evening, therefore, I am going to dip in, again, to the portfolio of images accumulated during my recent Egypt tour which had a strong influence on ancient and modern architecture which in turn is represented in certain parts of Glasgow, particularly in work by Greek Thomson, e.g.the Egyptian Halls in Union Street.

This evening, I am going to focus on Kom Ombo, the ancient city of Pa-Sabek, where the crocodile god was worshipped in pre-dynastic times. Location is between Edfu and Aswan.

Kom Ombo in fact comprises two temples, on the right is a temple dedicated to the god Sebak, the god of fertility, whilst the temple on the right is dedicated to Haroeris, the solar god of war.

The temple was rebuilt by the Ptolemies around AD300 on an earlier site dating from Tutmose III. The edifice is located close the edge of the Nile.

During the period of our visit the light faded quite rapidly

Carved pillar from the hypostyle hall.

These inscription show early medical/surgery tools.

Two images of the temple taken as the light fades.

The site also features a sophisticated system for predicting the rise of the Nile at flood time.

Today, I had planned to visit and photograph some more Greek Thomson architecture sites in preparation for a new web page on the subject. However, I was stymied in my endeavours on two accounts: (a) very poor weather and light conditions and (b) continuing very slow recovery from a harsh cold/flu which leaves me in the ‘walking wounded’ category.

This evening, I have decided to dip in again to my recent visit to some of the famous archaeological sites of Egypt, at least the images of blue skies and sunshine should help to lift spirits during a dark Glaswegian winter!

Memories of Abu Simbel will linger with me for a long time, not least because the visit entailed a 2.30am start and a long coach drive through the desert to reach the site just after dawn broke. Like many equivalent sites in Egypt I felt I was just part of a mass tourism production line with quality of information and the overall visitor experience somewhat mediocre. Compared to this the quality of information etc., at a typical Historic Scotland site is on a different (higher) level, but that said the climates are not comparable and Egypt is not Scotland.

Despite concerns with quality of the visit experience and very early start, I am very glad that I went because I can at least now physically connect with this world-famous site and research more information at my leisure.

Some key information on Abu Simbel:

• Theoretically dedicated to Amon-Ra, Harmakis and Ptah but in reality constructed for the glory of Ramses the Great (Ramses II)
• Built about 2000 years ago and then relocated to current site during 1965-9 to avoid being swamped by the rising waters of the Nile due to the construction of the Aswan Dam.
• The torso of one of the statues is missing due to an earthquake.
• The facade consists of four colossal statues (20m high) of the Pharaoh, Ramses.
• Inside the body of rock is a temple comprising a number of rooms including a sanctuary with various statues including those of Harmakis, Ramses II, Nefertari and others. Photography is not allowed inside.
• Not to be overlooked is the ‘small’ temple or Temple of Hathor, dedicated to Nefertari. This can be seen in the right section of image no 1 below.

This evening, I have dragged my self away from my sick bed to post some images and reflections of my recent visit sites of ancient Egypt.

Focus this evening is Edfu, which is the best preserved temple in the whole of Egypt.

This temple was constructed under Nectanebus II (360 BC) on top of an older temple dating from the time of Tutmose III.

The temple’s dimensions are:

• 137 m long
• 79 m wide
• Pylon 36m high.
• The entrance is guarded by two, black granite statues depicting Horus in form of a falcon (see image no 3 below).

Note Greek influenced columns below.

The great entrance pylon to the temple.

God, Horus in form of a falcon.

This video clip shows exterior wall decorations to the left of the entrance.