Just 60km south of Luxor and 50 km north of Edfu is the small town of Esna. Esna is mainly known for its dam and the appertaining lock. The dam was built between 1989 -1994 and is still used today. The dam as well as the bridge (1908) dam up respectively cross the Nile. In the afternoon begins in the south the great race on a top spot on the Nile lock, because only this guarantees relatively low waiting times. It is quite amazing and adventurous what the captains get out of their boats and what maneuvers these can perform.
Noteworthy is the landing dock , it dates from the time of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, whose cartridges it still bears today..
Cruise offers to the port Esna / Egypt
The temple of Esna is dedicated to the ram-headed god Khnum as well as several other deities. The temple was in conjunction with four other temples in the surrounding area no longer preserved today.
What makes the temple of Esna special is that it is located today 9 meters below the present town of Esna, so to speak, in a pit. During the last century, the temple was used as a cotton warehouse.
Of the former temple today only a portico is preserved, which was the beginning of the temple interior. It is considered the most beautiful of all temples of the Greco-Roman era in Egypt. The temple was built by Ptolemy IV. But there can also be found reliefs of later Ptolemaic pharaohs and Roman emperors. However, the quality of these reliefs is rather poor compared to previous periods.
On the columns are hieroglyphic texts in which the feasts of the sacred year in Esna are described. This sacred year is also kept in the form of a calendar. Even encrypted anthems are on the temple walls. In them the hieroglyphs were replaced by rams or crocodile marks.
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