The Temple of Khnum was built, for the first time, during the reign of King Thutmose III, one of the famous kings of the ancient pharaohs (during the era of the New Dynasty), but the current temple dates back to the Greco-Roman era, when the city of Esna became the third capital of Egypt from Upper Egypt, after Memphis and Thebes.
The Esna Temple is dedicated primarily to the worship of the god Khnum (the ancient Egyptian god of the Nile), but it was also dedicated to a number of other deities among the ancient Egyptians and pharaohs, most notably Neith (the ancient goddess of war and weaving). And he spoke (the god of magic), and (the god of the Lord of the Nile) sat down, and I ended (the lion gods).
In the year 1843 AD, during the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the ruler of Egypt, the temple was discovered and then restored and the rubble on the walls of the temple was completely cleaned. It is noteworthy that the scientist Champollion discovered the presence of Pharaonic inscriptions of King Thutmose in 1828 AD. It was built during the reign of a series of Roman emperors from Claudius (41-54 AD) to Decius (249-251 AD).
When you enter the Esna Temple, you will see several highlights, such as the (excavated) hypostyle hall, the hypostyle room, the Esna Temple precincts, and the gallery. A visit to the Esna Temple includes a lot of fun and excitement, especially if we know that the temple was built about nine meters below ground level. Here we see the Maretwit Hall, which was excavated over the Column Hall, but the rest of the temple is still buried under the city of Esna, and as a result, it appears that the temple sits in a large hole hollowed out of the city. Although some of the stone blocks attesting to construction during the reign of Thutmose III were reused at the site, the oldest complete part of the temple is the back wall of the hypostyle hall built during the Ptolemaic period and features depictions of Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII.
As you enter Esna Temple, you will be struck by the roof of the Hypostyle Hall, supported by twenty-four columns with beautifully carved flower heads in a variety of designs. You will also notice the shape of the columns decorated with texts describing the religious festival and depicting several Roman emperors in front of the ancient Egyptian gods. For example, the reliefs depict Emperor Trajan dancing in front of the goddess Menhet, and on the north wall of the hall, the pharaoh is depicted hunting wild birds, which symbolically quenching evil spirits. In the eastern corner, there is a strange hymn to Khnum in which the name of the god is written using the hieroglyph of a crocodile, and in the opposite corner, the hymn is repeated but with the name of the gods written with the head of a ram. Decorations that can also be seen inside the Esna Temple include a number of calendars and a ceiling decorated with Egyptian astrological figures on the north side and Roman astronomical signs on the south side. The temple contains 24 columns, on which Ptolemaic drawings and texts were drawn for the most important festivals that were held, such as the festival of raising the sky on the pillars and the celebration of the pottery maker on his wheel for the god Khnum, who was an ancient belief among the ancient Egyptians.
The most important Pharaonic deity that was worshiped in the Esna Temple:
The god Khnum, “the god of creation,” was represented in the form of a human being.
The god Khonsu, “the moon god”
The deity was granted and it was represented in the form of an emirate with a lion's head
Goddess Nate
God is really the "God of War"
The god Anubis
Next to the temple is the Monastery of Manabos and the Martyrs, it was built in the fourth century AD.
You will find Pharaonic drawings and inscriptions on the temples, the story of Khnum, the son of the god Khnum, “the god of fruit” among the Pharaohs, where the pottery wheel feast, the story of Ra’s struggle with humans, and the journey of the goddess Neith with Sais to Esna were recorded on the walls. You will also find engravings of Emperor Claudius in front of the Egyptian gods, drawings of King Ptolemy VI, and drawings of King and Roman Emperor Trajan and Marco.
The temple and many more attractions in Luxor can be done during one of Egypt Luxury tours that allows you to stay at the most outstanding hotels and Nile cruises or if you are traveling with a small amount of money and would like to save your time and expenses you can check our wide variety of Egypt cheap budget tours packages, if you have been on an accident and suffer from a physical injury don't ever worry because our professional operators customized a collection of Egypt wheelchair accessible tours packages that use all the accessible vehicles and different facilities for disabled people which is one of the main categories of our Egypt classic tours.
There is a really awesome place in Aswan called the Temple Of Maharraqa. It's a special place where you can learn about how people lived a long time ago in Egypt. You can even pretend to be there and see all the amazing things they had back then.
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