5.0 on Tripadvisor Licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and AntiquitiesMinistry licensed guides On the river since 2011 Luxor and Aswan, every week
The temple of Horus at Edfu is the best preserved temple in Egypt. The Ptolemies built it over 180 years, from 237 to 57 BC, and it lay buried under the debris of the town for centuries, which is why so much of it has survived.
Six things not to miss, from the pylon to the sanctuary.
The great gateway is carved with scenes of Ptolemy XII. Its sunk reliefs were once brightly painted.
Granite statues of Horus as a falcon stand guard at the temple, which was dedicated to him.
A large open court surrounded by columns with floral capitals.
In the first hall the king worships the gods. The second shows the sacred boat of Horus and the goddess Hathor.
The innermost room of the temple, reached through a line of doorways, one behind the other.
A narrow stairway inside the walls leads between the temple and its roof.
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The beautiful meeting. Once a year the goddess Hathor travelled from her temple at Dendera to visit Horus here, in the Feast of the Beautiful Meeting.
Colour on the roof. Since 2021 an Egyptian-German mission with the University of Würzburg has been restoring the roof, and has revealed original painted scenes and inscriptions.
Ptolemy III began the temple in 237 BC, and it was finished under Ptolemy XII in 57 BC, 180 years later. For centuries it lay under layers of settlement debris, and in 1860 the French archaeologist Auguste Mariette uncovered and restored parts of it.
Every cruise we sell visits Edfu with a licensed Egyptologist.
Yes. Entrance to Edfu is part of the price on every cruise we sell, together with the other sites on the programme between Luxor and Aswan.
It is a short ride up from the mooring.
Yes. Edfu and Kom Ombo are visited on the same day of the cruise.
Tell us your dates and we will send back two or three ships that fit, with real prices.
Next on the way: Kom Ombo, visited the same day.
