The temple of Esna, dedicated to the Egyptian deity Khnum, is one of the last examples of ancient Egyptian temple architecture.
Only the vestibule, called the pronaos, of the original temple complex survived, because it was used as storage facility for cotton during the 19th century CE.
The building measures 37 m long, 20 m wide, and 15 m tall, and was decorated mainly during the Roman period (1st to 3rd century CE).
It is decorated with astronomical scenes, while the pillars are covered with hieroglyphic accounts of temple rituals.
“In Egyptian temple architecture this is an absolute exception,” said Dr. Daniel von Recklinghausen, a researcher in the Department of Egyptology at the University of Tübingen.
“The work on the elaborate decorations probably took up to 200 years.”
“The real wealth, the inscriptions, was recognized by the French Egyptologist Serge Sauneron, who pushed ahead with the excavation of the temple and published the inscriptions in full,” the researchers said.
“But without the original colors, Sauneron could not recognize them under the layers of soot and bird excrement.”
“Now, the layers have been removed and the temple looks in part as it may have done some 2,000 years ago.”
“The hieroglyphics that Sauneron explored were often only very roughly chiseled out, the details only applied by painting them in color.”
“This means that only preliminary versions of the inscriptions had been researched. Only now do we get a picture of the final version.”
During the restoration, the scientists found the descriptions of the Big Dipper (Mesekhtiu) and Orion (Sah) constellations.
They also discovered inscriptions about the previously unknown constellations, including the Geese of Ra (Apedu n Ra).
“They were previously undetected under the soot and are now being exposed piece by piece.”
“Here we have found, for example, the names of ancient Egyptian constellations, which were previously completely unknown.”
Source:sci-news
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