Edfu
Understand
Apart from its ancient remains, Edfu is best known as a largely agricultural town, its main products being sugar cane and pottery.
Get in
The Temple of Edfu and open market are 3 km walking distance from where river boats dock.
Caleche drivers are the common way for cruise ship passengers to get to the site. They will ask for LE200 round trip, but you can get a lower price by haggling try for LE100-150 (Oct 2018). Cruise ships will allow you 2-2½ hours of shore time. The caleche drivers may offer to wait for 1 hour at the site, which gives you only enough time for a cursory visit. Insist on 1½-2 hours at the site.
Tuk-tuks, if you can get past the caleche drivers, are also available. These should not cost more than LE30. Tuk-tuks are also available at the train station and the bus station, both on the east bank of the village.
Get around
==See==
Temple of Horus at EdfuThe large Ptolemaic period Temple of Horus at Edfu is the best-preserved ancient temple structure in Egypt (closely followed by the Temple of Dendera. The sun-deity Horus, usually depicted as a falcon or as a falcon-headed man, enjoyed popular worship in ancient Egypt as one of the chief deities, the son of Osiris. The temple as it stands was started in 237 BCE by Ptolemy III on the site of an earlier New Kingdom structure, and completed almost two centuries later in 57 BCE by Ptolemy XII (father of the famous Cleopatra). Entrance to the temple is by means of a massive pylon, standing 36 m high and decorated with reliefs of a traditional nature depicting Ptolemy XII smiting his enemies - the monumental gateway is guarded by twin granite falcons, well above life-size.
Go next
- Kom Ombo, a riverside temple town, lies some 65 km south of Edfu and makes a great stop-off on the way south to Aswan. You can get there by train or bus, both stations are at the east bank.
- Esna, another riverside temple and town around 60 km north of Edfu. Also a convenient stop-over, if you are going to Luxor. Easy to reach with both buses and trains.