Esna Temple

Esna Temple

Esna Temple - The farming town of Esna lies on the western bank of the Nile, 55 km south of Luxor. This town is often the first stop after leaving Luxor. It is worth visiting the remains of the Ptolemaic temple in the centre of town.

The temple dates from the Roman period. It is one of the last temples in Egypt and today stands 9 metres below the modern ground level. It was dedicated to the god Khnum and several other deities, including Neith, Heka, Satet and Menhit.
The oldest part of the structure is on the west (rear) wall, which was the facade of the original temple, showing reliefs of Ptolemy VI Philometor and Ptolemy VIII Philopator Neos.
The roof is still intact, supported by 24 columns. They bear texts describing the religious festivals of this town and several Roman emperors before the gods. One of the columns shows Trajan dancing before the goddess Menhit. A nearby temple, also mentioned in the text, has been excavated at Kom-Mer, south of Esna.

The northern wall of the columned hall shows the traditional scene of the king fowling (representing evil spirits). Only in the corner, on the eastern wall, is an intriguing relief on the lower part of a calendar, in which a cryptographic hymn to Khnum is recorded, written in his hieroglyphs, and on the opposite corner of the same wall in ram hieroglyphs. In addition, a small chamber is built into the eastern wall of the temple, which has a similar function to one found in the Edfu temple. There are calendars on the upper parts of the northern and southern walls.

The ceiling of the columned hall shows Egyptian figures on the northern half and Roman signs of the zodiac on the southern half. The temple facade is built in the style of the period with the usual screen walls set between columns. The reliefs depict Roman emperors.
In the courtyard in front of the temple there is a monument to the goddess Menhit.