THE TEMPLES, SITES AND MONUMENTS OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Esna is located about 33 miles south of Luxor. The town's Greek name was Latopolis, named after the fish here (lates) considered sacred to the goddess Neith.

Esna grew to importance in the New Kingdom. The 18th Dynasty made the town a terminus for the road south to Nubia, and troops (and gold) often passed through. After the fall of the 20th Dynasty and the New Kingdom, the city slowly declined.

Esna received renewed interest during the 26th Dynasty. Later, in the Greco-Roman Period, it became the capital of the 3rd nome of Upper Egypt

The main attraction here is the Temple of Khnum and Neith (above), which lies beneath street-level in a pit. Most of the ruins of this temple and the old city are yet to be explored since they lay under modern buildings.

The first temple here was built by the New Kingdom pharaoh Thutmose III (15041450 BC). Additions were made in the Later Dynasties and Greco-Roman Periods. Near the Temple of Khnum & Neith on a stone quay along the corniche are carved hieroglyphic cartouches of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD). The Roman emperor Decius (249-251 AD) - who decreed that all Christians would suffer death if they did not sacrifice to the pagan gods - had his cartouche carved on the walls of the temple. His was the last.

Later, Esna was an important Coptic Christian center with a beautiful monastery.

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