Esna

Esna (Arabic إسنا, DMG ISNA; Coptic Sne ) is a city on the west bank of the Nile in Upper Egypt, about 55 kilometers south of Luxor and 135 kilometers north of Aswan. The city is connected by a Nilstaudamm, which is crossed by a road to the eastern side of the Nile. Esna has about 70,000 inhabitants ( Calculation: 2010) and is a center of the Coptic faith. Here, since the Nile perch (Lates niloticus ) was highly revered and buried in cemeteries, the Greeks called the place Latopolis.

The surroundings of Esna is also today still dominated by agriculture, especially the cultivation of cotton. In the city the craft is an important source of income. Esna is known for the obtained pronaos of the Khnum temple from Roman times, the nine-meter stands in the middle of the old town below the present street level.

Esna wore different names in ancient times. First known among the ancient Egyptian name forms Iunyt, Senate / Senet or Sekhet - Chenmu, the place was called in the Ptolemaic period Latopolis (Greek Λατόπολις ) or Laton Pólis ( Λάτων Πόλις ). In Roman times, the name was shortened to Latin Lato. The Coptic name of the town was derived from the ancient Egyptian Sne name and is preserved in Arabic Isna.

Location

Esna is located in the southern part of Egypt on the Nile, 145 kilometers north of Lake Nasser in the midst of a fertile plain on both sides of the river, but mainly northwest of the city. It has a north-south extent of about 27 km and an east- west distance of up to 13 kilometers. The plane is largely irrigated by the waters of the Nile and used for agriculture. This is followed, in the east of the Arabian Desert in the west, the Libyan Desert to.

The place belongs administratively to the province Qena. The Sudanese border in the south is about 350 km, the Red sea 195 km to the northeast. With Aswan and Luxor Esna is connected by a railway line along the Nile, which runs along the east bank. The train station is about 800 meters from the Nile and can be reached via the road of southern Nildamms. The city center is located about one kilometer south of this dam.

With the province capital of Qena Esna is out of the path connected by a road that leads through Luxor on the east bank of the Nile to the north. In Luxor is the closest Luxor International Airport. However, most important artery for Esna is the Nile, on the run that are important for the whole cruise tourism vessels from Luxor to Aswan and freight traffic is handled to Lower Egypt. The pier of the trains running on the Nile cruise ships is on the level of the center and south of the souk (market ) of Esna, where the remains of the Khnum temple are within easy walking distance.

History

The exposed pronaos of the Khnum in Esna Temple is located in the city center, but nine meters below the present ground level. In addition to the ram-headed god Khnum main his wife Menhit, the city goddess Nebet - Uu and the gods Neith and Heka were worshiped in the temple. Construction has begun in the Ptolemaic period on the ruins of an early shrine from the 18th Dynasty. The completion of the remaining porch was in Roman times. So the name of the Emperor Claudius and Vespasian are mentioned on the front of the temple. The pronaos of Esna remains almost identical to the vestibule of the temple of Hathor at Dendera.

The ceiling of the pronaos is supported by 24 pillars decorated with flower capitals. It shows ancient Egyptian astronomical representations about the aisles and the nave two rows of flying vultures. All the walls are decorated inside and out with bas-reliefs. They show representations of the Emperor Commodus, Domitian, Titus and Trajan with the Egyptian gods.

On the Nile originates also from the Roman period Quays is still preserved in parts. He wears cartridges of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The remains of a Nilometers ( instrument for measuring the Nile level ) can still be seen. Around 4 km south-west on the right bank of the Nile two rock pillars were discovered in the village of Sarnich. They are dated to the beginning of the reign of Amenhotep IV ( Akhenaten ).

First scientific excavations at the buried by Nile mud and rubble of several centuries Khnum temple made ​​mid 19th century by Auguste Mariette. Before that French soldiers had already exposed parts of the temple complex during the conquest of Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte. The city had previously spread beyond the facilities of the temple. After exposing the interior of the portico of the pronaos was partially used as a cotton warehouse.

For urban development was the construction of Nilübergänge of particular importance. The first dam bridge was created in 1906 under British rule. In the 1990s, it was built north of it another. The souk of Esna developed because of its location at the sight of Khnum temple in recent times to a cut on the tourism market.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Pachomius the Elder (c. 292/298-346 ), Christian saint, Egyptian monk and the founder of the first Christian monasteries