Esna or Isna temple to the ram-headed deity Khnum has architectonical look, as a basic sketch has a trapezoidal frontage mastaba like but of considerable bigger volume and additional ornaments and has three principle doors of entrance like Seti’s chapel at Karnack and as strange as it sounds, with some Inca sacred constructions of unadorned design as in earlier Egyptian times at the Koricancha temple in Cuzco-Peru.

Esna has a tubular framed ornamentation with designs that give the effect as it was a water pipe tightened to the structure a frequent characteristic of many Egyptian temples; on top of this structure is a decorative design bended at the top that resemble marshes of papyrus reeds growing on top or roof; water and this plant was of much importance in relation to their mythology and afterlife contentment.

The temple of Esna was built about 50 Kilometers south ancient Thebes now a day better known by Luxor, the temple was dedicated to their god Kum or Khnum, that at this temple in a way he had one and female counterpart, the goddess Neith, they had a son conforming a triad structure similar to Edfu.

At the same time he has other goddess that also appears as its counterpart, Menheyet a lion-headed goddess matching the elephantine triad.

The lion headed goddesses probably is representing the eye of the Sun god or the personality of Hathor, sometime this is the goddess of joy others a furious force, raging against the enemies of Ra, like the goddesses Bast and Sekhenet were that also had lion head.
The principal theme at the entrance of many Egyptian Temples is the massive human sacrifices to their gods but probably it might be a symbolic representation of a victory at war or the fury of the pharaoh as their Ra sun god against the enemies of Egypt.


Although there are older edifications most of the temple was built during the Greco - Roman period and Ptolemy III was its principle restaurateur or builder and also fallowed by other Geek and roman Rulers. The Greek preference for this place probably was do to the fact that Geeks related the Egyptian goddess Neith with their goddess Athena the goddess of wisdom.

In de design of this temple there were great astronomical implications for the reason that Khnum in a way is also a god of the universe on account that some times He is represented as a ram with four heads, the ram in hieroglyphs represent spirit and for such reason each head is thought to represent the spirit of a different Egyptian god: Ra, Shu, Seb and Osiris as the four elements: fire, air, earth and Water that make the visible universe or Zodiac. Khnum was strongly tied also to Osiris because both were river gods that eventually became the Nile, this god eventually were unified and worshiped in different way.

The columns at the entrance represent lotus flowers, a mythological symbolism of the birth of Ra their Sun god that supposedly sprang from one of these flowers in the beginning of the creation of the universe. Also in the walls of this temple are inscribed a great number of calendar, and in the ceiling appears a great Zodiac representation with Egyptian and Roman symbols.

Two goddess Hathor at each side of the ceiling appears giving birth to the sun and the thirty-seven men navigating in a boat representing the Dekans are depicted at her belly, inside of the Dekans (sky divisions) are the twelve Zodiacal symbols very close as they are known today.

Frontal view of Esna Temple Egyptzoom to full page size External decorative motive at Esna or Isna templezoom to full page size Zodiac trepresentation at Esna Temple Egyptzoom to full page size