Inside The Best-Preserved Egyptian Temple! ESNA

Hello everyone! Are you ready for the next adventure? Today we'll see one of the best preserved and most beautiful temples in Egypt, the Temple of Esna. This Greco-Roman wonder is one of the last great temples of ancient Egypt. It's a place of mysterious rites dating back to deep prehistory. Let's go! The city of Esna is located around 60 kilometers south of Luxor. I heard that after the recent renovations the temple looks stunning. It's time to see for ourselves. We have to pass through the Al-Kushairiya market which is ancient itself. It's believed to have existed continuously since Roman times. The temple is situated in a big hole in the ground in the very heart of the city. It's on its original level almost 10 meters below the current level of the city. Perhaps inconspicuous from the outside but wait until we get inside. It's jaw-dropping! Only a quarter of the temple has survived. The rest was used as a source of building material. Its hypostyle hall however is in excellent condition. This is one of the best preserved ancient structures in Egypt. Why has this part of the temple been preserved? We'll get to know this and many more so stay with me. The hypostyle hall is made of red sandstone and is 37 meters wide 20 meters long and 15 meters high. At first glance it looks like a typical classical Egyptian temple but nothing could be further from the truth. Actually the hypostyle hall was built by the emperor Claudius in the 1st century AD but its decorative program wasn't finished until 200 years later during the reign of Decius in 251 AD. Surprisingly despite such a long period of decorating the temple all the rulers generally followed the original Ptolemaic plan. The existing structure has 24 columns, four rows of six columns each. 18 inside measure 13 meters in height and are over five meters in girth. They're the most famous and unique feature of the Yesna temple. None of the composite capitals in plant shapes are the same and this is actually what I like the most in Ptolemaic architecture. The capitals are always so abundant in shape, in colors and here we have the perfect example of them. In contrast to many other Egyptian temples where the columns were mainly decorated with images of rulers and gods here they predominantly embellished with texts. One of them displays the hymn to the columns and another to the capitals themselves. Interestingly some of the capitals display unique as for Egypt Roman architectural elements like bunches of grapes or ionic curl. Another distinctive feature is the content of the text written on the columns. It describes temple rituals. One of them was recorded in the form of an instruction so detailed that apart from the successive elements of the ceremony we also know the text of litanies, hymns and prayers. Moreover each of the columns directs us to the next one like for example now look at the column to the south. This unique description makes the temple in Yesna the only one in all of Egypt that allows us to recreate the ritual in the smallest detail. The coating of soot and dirt accumulated through almost 2 000 years preserved the original colors. Restoration works aimed at cleaning the temple from sediment began only in 2018. Thanks to the German Egyptologist Professor Leitz and his team we can feel as if we went back in time to the heyday of this and other Egyptian temples as all of them were as colorful. The images and names of a ram-headed Khnum the ancient Egyptian god of fertility a divine potter who molded humans are the most predominant in the temple. It's not surprising that one of his title is the lord of Yesna. I told more about Khnum in my episode from Elephantine Island link in the description. He wasn't however the only principal god of the temple. A female deity Neith referred to as the lady of Yesna wasn't of any lesser importance even though there are exactly half as many representations of her on the walls and columns. One of the oldest Egyptian deities worshipped from pre-dynastic to roman times. Neith her name means the terrifying one. Goddess of creation the mother of gods who invented human birth and took care of people also after death. She was to give birth to a tomb rapt to whom she entrusted the completion of the act of creation begun by her together with the first gods. The goddess of war from ancient times Neith's victory was used to describe the military successes of the pharaohs. Bow, arrows, sword and shield are her attributes. She is shown with the red crown of lower Egypt as she was especially worshipped in the north in Delta and Saiz. Actually the city of Yesna was called by the ancient Egyptians Tasenet which translates to the seed of Neith. Greeks named it Latopolis after the revered Nile purge Lates Niloticus which was believed to embody the goddess Neith. This mighty deity was considered part of the Latopolis triad. She replaced the wife of Khnum, Neptune or Menhit who here in Yesna was worshipped only as an aspect of Neith. Neith describes herself in one of the texts in the temple. I am Neith the god's mother who created the body of Ra. I am the creative water who made what exists who created everything. I am the ancient progenitor who ties together the offspring of gods and men. So, both deities were associated with creation. Khnum was believed to mold humans on his potter's wheel whereas Neith could bring anything into being in her thoughts or by uttering their names. On the ceiling we can admire the stars in the sky. The entire space is intersected in the middle by images of Nakpet. On the right side of the ceiling there are Egyptian astronomical figures, on the left Roman zodiac signs. However, not all constellations shown in the temple have been identified. Images of Khnum are to be found mostly in the southern part of the Hypostyle Hall and Neith's on the northern. This division isn't accidental. The cult center of Neith was north of Esna in Sais and Khnum's in Elephantine, that's to the south. Esna combined these two deities not only in case of location but also theologically, perceiving them together as an androgenic deity responsible for the aforementioned act of creation. The best-preserved ritual in the temple was inscribed on as many as 14 columns and celebrated always on February 25th. It actually was performed on the occasion of two festivals, the festival of the installation of the porter's wheel and the festival of raising the heaven. The ritual lasted the whole day. The most interesting part took place in the evening. Women would offer a real porter's wheel to the statue of Khnum hidden in the sacred shrine. They were reciting litanies and hymns to satisfy the deity, which in return would begin to mold new beings. Interestingly, during this particular rite, the priests had to leave the temple as this fertility ritual could be performed and seen by women only. The festival dedicated solely to Neith was celebrated not only here in Esna and Sais but throughout Greco-Roman Egypt. The so-called Lycnochaia, the Feast of Lambs, was dedicated to Neith Athena and held during the summer. A text from the festival calendar inscribed in the Temple of Esna, dated to the time of Emperor Trajan, describes the exact recitation of the priest. Oh, she has come in joy! Neith, the great cow, has come in peace! Oh, for her arrival! The great one, mistress of Esna! The goddess and her enyad appear at her temple. Let men and women make festival! Let this whole city give shouts of joy and let none sleep until dawn! Esna is in festival! During the festival, the temple was illuminated with a multitude of lamps, but they were also lit in Egyptian homes. According to Herodotus, those lamps were saucers full of salt and oil, the wick floating thereon and burning all night. A beautiful relief showing a crocodile with a sun disk on its head. The crocodile is a solar manifestation of the child god known as Sobek-Ra, the son of Neith. Neith's features and roles were gradually taken over by Hathor and later by Isis. The Greeks identified her with Athena. The most famous relief shows Emperor Trajan, dancing before two manifestations of Cnum's wife, Neptui. She was a personification of fertility, the lady of the fields, but was becoming very quickly enraged, changing into the lion-headed goddess Manhid, who was known as the one who sacrifices or the slaughterer. By dancing, Trajan tries to appease the angry goddess. On the inner wall of the columned hall, we see scenes of adoration of the gods by pharaohs, signed with cartridges of Roman emperors, such as Commodus from the 2nd century, as well as Caracalla and Geta from the 3rd century. A particularly interesting relief depicts a striking net with water birds and fish. It's the prey of the infamous Emperor Commodus. The temple in Esna is one of the last ancient Egyptian temples ever built, and the last one decorated with hieroglyphs. When we were filming this part of the ceiling, renovation work was still going on. About a month ago, March 2023, it was entirely cleaned. It features a full zodiac presentation, very rare in Egyptian temples. It's actually totally unique because it's the Babylonian zodiac, not known to the Egyptians until Ptolemaic times. Moreover, the zodiac in the temple is a rarity. Apart from the zodiac in Dendera, we can only admire them in tombs. Although the historic value of the temple was noticed already in Napoleonic times, it was not until the second half of the 20th century that its real treasure was discovered, the inscriptions. They were documented by the French Egyptologist Serge Sonnerand. However, at that time, the temple was covered with many residue layers, and some of the relief details were applied only in paint, so he couldn't see a full picture. Honestly, before coming here, I thought, okay, the temple will look a little bit like the one in Dendera. But actually, it all went beyond my expectation. The colors, especially not only on the capitals, but on the walls, the quality of carvings, the quality of execution, the whole temple is just astonishing. I'm in awe. Honestly, I'm in awe. And if you ever have a chance to visit this temple, don't hesitate, just come here and do it. Let's take a look at this beautiful building from the outside. The importance of the city of Esna increased during the 18th dynasty, when it became a point on the trade route between Nubia and Egypt. It later declined to regain former significance during the 26th dynasty. Finally, during the Ptolemaic period, it became the capital of the third Egyptian nom. As you can see, it didn't lose its importance also in Roman times. Here, on the facade, we can see Emperor Tiberius, led before Cnum by Vajat and Nekpet, the personifications of northern and southern Egypt. The small figure in front of Cnum is Heka, the god of magic, shown as a child. Here, Emperor Claudius, purified by the gods Toth and Horus. And again Emperor Claudius in an offering scene, in front of Cnum, his wife Neptune and Heka, with a finger in his mouth. Heka was the ancient god of magic and medicine. The magical rituals of the Egyptians were named after him. He had his statue here in the temple, carried through the fields during the processions, which was to ensure fertility and abundant harvest. The oldest artifact found on the site was a block inscribed with a cartouche of Amenhotep II. At the calendar carved on the temple wall mentions his father, the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III from the 15th century BC. Hence the conclusion the construction of the first temple here was most likely initiated by him. Near the end of the century, around 1400s, the temple fell in disrepair, but was reconstructed more than 8000 years later by the Ptolemaic and Roman rulers. The construction began during the times of Ptolemy V, who ruled from 205 to 180 BC, but unfortunately, as you can see, also this edifice hasn't survived to our times in its entirety. Initially, it was a large Ptolemaic temple, similar to the one in Dendera, featuring additional structures like mamice, kiosk and storage rooms for ritual equipment, but shared the fate of many other ancient architectural wonders. It was used as a source of building material. The immense hypostyle hall hasn't been destroyed because it was used as a storage facility for cotton. The southern outer wall, a characteristic scene of slaying the enemies of Egypt, was usually shown on pylons, but they were never erected in Esna, so the scenes were carved into the side walls of the hypostyle hall. The ruler's pet lion devours captives. We know this motif from Ptolemaic temples such as Komombo. In the traditional pose of the pharaohs, reproduced since early dynastic times, here we see the Emperor Domitian. The monumental scene of smiting the enemies in front of the principal deities was obligatory in all Egyptian temples. Lionhead Menhit with Khnum, who's giving Domitian a sickle-shaped sword, Kepes. Here, Emperor Titus sacrifices an Oryx antelope in front of Menhit. The northern wall has scenes almost identical to those on the southern one. However, here, instead of Domitian, we see Trajan slaying the enemies in front of Khnum and Menhit. And the last emperor portrayed on the temple walls was Theseus from the 3rd century AD. Time to go back to Luxor. It was a great adventure. The sanctuary of Khnum and Niv in Esna is a beautiful example of how strong ties connected the Egyptians at the beginning of our era with their beliefs and traditions dating back to prehistory. It also shows that the Egyptian civilization flourished long after the death of Cleopatra VII and the collapse of Egyptian statehood. Thank you for watching. I hope you enjoyed this episode. If so, please subscribe to my channel, like and comment. It means a lot to me as it's hard for small channels like mine to break through on YouTube. You can also support me on Patreon. Link in the description. And see you on another ancient site!