Some of the most famous ancient Egyptian temples are located in Esna, Egypt. Esna Temple, also called Khnum Temple, shows how important this area is to the culture of the people who live there. Most likely, this influence dates back to the time of the Romans and the Ptolemies. Esna was one of the most important cities in ancient Egyptian culture.
Where is the temple of Esna located?
On the western side of the Nile, the city of Esna may be about 485 kilometers from Cairo, the capital of today’s Egypt. Esna Temple is located in Esna, which means “City of Fish”. This city was called Senat in ancient Egypt, but the Greeks changed its name to Latopolis. The ancient Egyptians believed that the perch was no less important than the god.
When was the Asna temple built?
King Tuthmosis III of the Eighteenth Dynasty began building the temple of Esna, the god of creation, with the ram’s head of Khnum. However, it did not end until the era of the Ptolemies and the Roman Empire, between 40 and 250 AD. The names of influential people who helped build Esna Temple, also known as Khnum Temple, are written on the walls of the building.
In the ruins of the Esna Temple, the twenty-four columns that make up the Hypostyle Hall are beautifully decorated with crowns of lotus flowers and palm crowns. In ruins, it is likely that the colonnaded room was used for rituals. In the numerous reliefs on the walls, the Ptolemaic and Roman emperors dressed as pharaohs and presented gifts to the god Khnum. In the sanctuaries, the pharaohs are used as an ornament. The murals are laid out in a grid of four by four. Priests and other people who paid attention to time lived in the rooms on either side of the main entrance. On each side of the lobby, there are rooms like this one.
As they carry Emperor Trajan through the halls, you will see priests with jackal or hawk masks standing at the entrances to each room. One of the most interesting inscriptions is the astronomical images above the temple. These photos are at the top of the building. If you stand to the left of the main entrance to the temple, you can see Nut, Dog Star, Orion’s belt, and Alpha Draconis (or Dragon Star).
Reliefs of Horus, the god of victory, and Khnum, pulling a net full of fish from the Nile, on the western wall of the temple. One picture of each of these deities shows them a network. In the lower right corner you can see the last found hieroglyphs. This makes this photo of historical interest. Around 250 AD, these engravings were completed under the supervision of the Roman Emperor Dius.
Importance of rituals in the ancient temples of Esna:
Once you enter the Esna Temple, it is clear that a lot of care and thought went into its construction. Before going to the sacred Esna temple, the ancient Egyptians had to take several steps to ensure that they were pure in their rituals. The inscriptions on the temple walls say that people had to meet strict requirements before stationing, and they had to keep their fingernails short, wear linen clothes, wash their hands with nitron, and wait a long time between sexual encounters.
The modern city of Esna:
The British bridges over the Nile, built in 1906, and the “Electricity Bridge” built in the 1990s helped a lot in the modern Egyptian city of Esna by making it more visible and promoting trade. When Nile cruises stop in or near Esna, people often drop off here. During these times, captains often monitor the ship’s navigation using padlocks while passengers go to Esna Temple. A few blocks from the Nile Corniche is a vibrant open-air market that tourists may want to visit while in Esna.
