Kom Ombo was an interesting choice of location for a couple of important scenes contained in Siptah’s Legacy. The temple actually dates to around the Ptolemic Dynasty (305 BCE ~ 30 BCE) during the time of Cleopatra, as opposed to the time frame of the novel, which starts off at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, some 2000 years prior to that, but I took some creative license there, as this was, indeed, an important religious spot.
The temple complex is actually a twin structure dedicated principally to Sobek, the crocodile god of fertility, and also Horus. It is in a fairly ruined state and often overlooked by visitors, as tourists generally prefer to focus their time touring the great monuments of Luxor, not to mention drawing in the mystical essence of the famed Valley of the Kings.
The fact that this temple is relatively unknown, and includes a number of interesting elements, made it perfect to incorporate into the fictional environment of of my principal character, Hatshepsut, not to mention Siptah himself!
Hatshepsut was, of course, an accomplished doctor of medicine. If you look very carefully, carved within the walls of the magnificent Kom Ombo temple one can find a frieze containing what are clearly images of surgical instruments, as well as birthing positions… demonstrating how advanced the Egyptians were in medical sciences.
I also utilised the famed “Nilometer” located within the temple confines to conceal a 3,000-year-old secret (revealed in Siptah’s Legacy) and here again, applied a touch of artistic license to increase the depth of the structure and build within it a hidden underground tunnel that ultimately connects with the River Nile from the opening, guarded by a carved limestone crocodile colossus.
There you have it! One behind-the-scenes example of how the KV66 series incorporates real-world locales and archeological sites to bring the books to life. More to come!