25th January 2013
Khnum Temple – Esna
Khnum Temple – Esna
The temple dates from the time of Ptolomy VI (180-145 BC) to Decius (249-251 AD) It is located about 25 miles south of Luxor on the West Bank.
The temple is about 30 feet below street level. The rest of the temple has not been excavated and remains buried below the modern village. It makes you wonder just what is under all the houses that surround the temple. The photo shows the Hypostyle Hall built during Claudius (41-54 AD)
The temple is about 30 feet below street level. The rest of the temple has not been excavated and remains buried below the modern village. It makes you wonder just what is under all the houses that surround the temple. The photo shows the Hypostyle Hall built during Claudius (41-54 AD)
Inscriptions
The temple contains two large inscriptions in praise of Khnum, a ram-headed creator god who fashioned mankind on a potter's wheel from the clay mud of the Nile. One inscription is written using mostly the crocodile hieroglyph, the other using the ram. These demonstrate the high level of cultural sophistication maintained by Egypt during the period of Roman rule.
This scene shows one of the later Pharaohs offering wine-jars to Ma'at, who sits enthroned and wears her characteristic attribute, a feather, on her head. Behind Ma'at stands the lioness Menhyt, the consort of Khnum.
As it was in the beginning, so it remained towards the end. Ma'at was the goddess who personified lawfulness and order - personal, political, and cosmic. Pharaoh's job was to keep the wheels turning, by his effective kingship, so that the universe in general, and the land of Egypt in particular, could continue forever and ever without spiralling down into chaos and disorder, which was the Egyptians' greatest fear. Today, we would say that the king was responsible for fighting the good fight against entropy, anarchy, time, and decay. The Egyptians hated change. They fought it tenaciously, throughout the long three thousand and five hundred years of their ancient history, until the advent first of Christianity, and then of Islam, changed everything forever.
As it was in the beginning, so it remained towards the end. Ma'at was the goddess who personified lawfulness and order - personal, political, and cosmic. Pharaoh's job was to keep the wheels turning, by his effective kingship, so that the universe in general, and the land of Egypt in particular, could continue forever and ever without spiralling down into chaos and disorder, which was the Egyptians' greatest fear. Today, we would say that the king was responsible for fighting the good fight against entropy, anarchy, time, and decay. The Egyptians hated change. They fought it tenaciously, throughout the long three thousand and five hundred years of their ancient history, until the advent first of Christianity, and then of Islam, changed everything forever.
This is a coronation scene. The cobra goddess Wadjet stands to the left of Claudius and wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt (northern Egypt, the delta). The vulture goddess Nekhbet stands to the right of Claudius and wears the White Crown of Upper Egypt (southern Egypt, the desert). Claudius wears the Double Crown of Egypt, which combines the Red and White crowns and therefore symbolizes the political unification of Northern and Southern Egypt.
In the present scene, the two goddesses lead Claudius into the presence of Khnum and Heka, a child-god of magic who was worshipped alongside Khnum at Esna. Heka stands on the symbol for "union" to reinforce the message that the Roman emperor Claudius is king, in traditional fashion, of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The symbolism of the Two Crowns goes all the way back to the Narmer Palette, c. 3100 BC, which depicts the earliest unification of Upper and Lower Egypt - the defining moment of Egyptian history. Three thousand years later, Egypt's foreign conquerors - first the Ptolemy’s, and then the Romans - appropriated this powerful and ancient symbolism as propaganda. By appealing to the highly conservative nature of Egyptian culture, Egypt's new masters intended to assert and reinforce the legitimacy of their rule.
In the present scene, the two goddesses lead Claudius into the presence of Khnum and Heka, a child-god of magic who was worshipped alongside Khnum at Esna. Heka stands on the symbol for "union" to reinforce the message that the Roman emperor Claudius is king, in traditional fashion, of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The symbolism of the Two Crowns goes all the way back to the Narmer Palette, c. 3100 BC, which depicts the earliest unification of Upper and Lower Egypt - the defining moment of Egyptian history. Three thousand years later, Egypt's foreign conquerors - first the Ptolemy’s, and then the Romans - appropriated this powerful and ancient symbolism as propaganda. By appealing to the highly conservative nature of Egyptian culture, Egypt's new masters intended to assert and reinforce the legitimacy of their rule.
An emperor, whose name I can't quite make out, is purified by Thoth and Horus. The libation (close-up, inset) consists of alternating ankh and were symbols surrounding the king. Overlooking the scene at the right is Menhyt, the lioness-wife of Khnum. Vertical moulding at the far right imitates the traditional reed construction of the earliest temples.