Esna & Edfu

After Luxor, we stopped at two smaller towns called Esna and Edfu.  The temple at Esna is historically significant for containing details of ancient Egyptian worship.  Currently it is significant as an example of how difficult it is to both excavate and preserve some of Egypt's ancient treasures. 

As  you can see in this picture, the Exna temple is located significantly below the current town's street level.  In order to complete the excavation of this temple, an entire neighborhood will have to be moved.  What you see is only the outer temple courtyard.  Additionally, the temple is now located below the water table.  Since the Nile dams have been built the water levels have changed significantly from what they were in ancient times.  The ground around the temple is quite muddy, and the limestone rocks the temple is built from are soaking up the water at a rapid rate.

Some attempts are being made to clean the inside of this temple.  In the picture below you can see a contrast between the cleaned paintings on the right and the ones yet to be cleaned on the left.  No restoration is being made, only cleaning of what remains.

The pillars in the temple detail the rituals to be followed when worshiping, including personal cleanliness and appropriate clothing.

The temple at Edfu is the best preserved temple from ancient Egypt.  The walls are almost completely intact, and there is very little damage anywhere in the temple.  As with most other temples, there are signs that it had been used for Christian worship at some point, but there was less 'editing' of the original artwork than in some other temples.  This temple was built in the time of the Ptolemies and dedicated to the god Horus, whose symbol you can see over the main doorway.

The above picture shows the outer walls of the temple.  The bird statues (representing the god Horus) around the doorway were slightly taller than my 6'1" husband, to give you an idea of the scale.

This is the outer courtyard, on the other side of the main wall.

Each successive room lines up perfectly with the last, all the way into the holiest chamber where only the high priest could go.  The dark shiny piece at the back is the alter in the final chamber.

The carvings on the walls in this temple were extensive and impressive.  They tell the stories of the god Horus, his blessing of the Ptolemies who built the temple, and details about sacrifices and the every-day business of the temple.

All throughout the temple are store rooms, underground secret passageways, and hiding places inside the walls.

In our group of eight people there was a middle aged couple who were Egyptian-American, Dr. Moody and his wife Susan.  As they had immigrated to the United States when they were rather young, they had never seen any of the sights that were part of this trip.  They quickly formed a special bond with our Egyptologist guide, Muhammad, who was clearly passionate about his own Egyptian heritage.  All three were overwhelmed by the rich history and beauty of this temple in particular.  As we finished the tour, I turned away from them to begin to walk out.  Just as I left them behind in the last room I heard Muhammad sigh, turn to Dr. Moody and say, "We have fallen so far."