CAIRO: A stone block at Kom Ombo Temple has reportedly fallen due to a dense sandstorm that has blanketed Upper Egyptian governorate of Aswan, state news agency MENA reported Tuesday.
“The block fell from the upper door lintel leading to the second hypostyle hall of the temple. Fortunately, it has not been broken and will be restored to its original place,” Aswan Antiquities Department Director General Ahmed Saleh was quoted by MENA.
Several tiles of the suspended ceiling at the adjacent Mummified Crocodiles Museum have also fallen “without causing any damage to the museum’s contents and the glass showcases,” Saleh said.
Kom Ombo Crocodile museum
Kom Ombo Crocodile museum
A sandstorm and torrential rain swept areas in Aswan, the Red Sea and northeast of the Sinai Peninsula including the Gulf of Aqaba, St. Catherine city, Wadi el Malha and Wadi Mashash this week.
No reports of deaths or injuries have been received so far. According to Egypt’s Meteorological Authority, the unstable weather conditions will end Saturday.
In May 2014, the suspended ceiling of the crocodile museum collapsed following a severe sandstorm. The museum opened in 2010 to house several mummified crocodiles that were found inside the shrine of Kom Ombo Temple.
Kom Ombo temple was built during the Greco-Roman period (330 B.C.-390 A.D.,)
“It was dedicated to two ancient Egyptian deities: Sobek, the crocodile-headed god of fertility and military prowess, and Horus, the falcon-headed god of protection according to ancient Egyptian mythology,” Moataz Al Sayed, former head of the Egyptian Tourist Guides Syndicate, told The Cairo Post.