POWER TO THE PRIESTS

This morning we all made our way sluggishly to breakfast, very aware that this is the last day we will call 'Meroe' home! We had started moving before the tea was poured, & by the time we had cleaned teeth & adorned ourselves with jackets...we were at Kom Ombo. This visit was to see another temple, that of the crocodile god, Sobek. Here too we heard the story about how Sobek became a god. For years & years the people of Kom Ombo were at the mercy of the crocodiles who plagued their waters. There were many attacks & much heartache. It got so bad that a solution had to be found. The Priest came up with a brilliant idea...create a crocodile god & seek his protection, then he wont harm them anymore. And so Sobek was created. Alas, although the people worshiped, offered sacrifices & did as Sobek ordered the king....crocodiles still attacked the people!! This temple was special in that it had very good quality high relief sculptures & a lot has been well preserved. It is also the location of a lot of crocodile mummies, which I would have liked to have seen, but sadly...the croc museum wasnt open today, being Friday, the Muslim holy day. Amongst the ruins we were also introduced to the further cunning of the priests. In between the walls separating one holy of holies from another, they had created a series of corridors & tunnels, with a special echo chamber at one end. This was used specifically when the King came to pay his respects to Sobek...the priest would speak into the echo chamber in a deep voice, claiming to be the god Sobek & ordering him to do...whatever the priest wanted!! This meant that the king would emerge from the temple and would announce that he had heard the voice of Sobek etc etc etc! Very clever & powerful Priests back then!