Esna Temple is located in the city of Esna, which is considered one of the most important cities in ancient Egyptian history and the Greco-Roman period. The city of Esna is located between Luxor and Aswan and includes many historical monuments, but the most important of them is the Esna temple.
The city of Esna is famous for its bridges and the Esna Lock, which was built by the British on the Nile in 1906. Therefore, Esna is a stop on the Nile cruise tours that pass through the city.
Esna Temple
This temple was dedicated to the god Khnum, one of the most important gods in the ancient Egyptian religion. It is believed that he is the god of creation, who formed a man as a child on the wheel of the fakharani. The god Khnum appears in the form of a human with a ram’s head or a lion’s body with a ram’s head as the way of rams in the Karnak complex.
The construction of this temple began during the reign of King Thutmose III, the 18th dynasty, New Kingdom, and its construction was completed in the Greco-Roman period.
This temple was sacred in the ancient Egyptian civilization, where there were strict rules for entering this temple like wearing linen, washing hands with natron salt, and cutting fingernails and toenails.
Temple design
The remains of the temple contain a hypostyle with 24 columns that take the shape of a lotus flower and palm. On both sides of the entrance, there are rooms that priests used as storerooms for the temple.
There are scenes of the Ptolemaic kings and the Roman emperors making offerings to the god Khnum and the temple gods and goddesses such as Neith, Heka, Satet, and Menheyet.
On the roof of the temple, there are the most important temple inscriptions, which are astronomical inscriptions.
On the western wall of the facade of the temple, there is a scene of the god Horsala of victory and the god Khnum pulling a net full of fish.
you can visit Esna Temple with Explore the Land of Pharaohs
