Egad! Another temple? After making our way over from the dock, we found that Esna Temple stands a good 30 feet below current ground level (and the greater part of the temple remains unexcavated underneath the town) . So, down the stairs we went to take in another Greco-Roman period temple (remember, you can tell from those massive walls connecting the columns and providing plenty of space for messaging). Of course, underneath this unearthed temple lay the foundations of still earlier temples, as the habit through the ages was to build the new on top of the old. The best estimate is that the original temple in this spot was from the reign of Tuthmosis III during the New Kingdom period. A few things made Esna interesting:
First, it’s rare to see dancing kings. That’s reportedly Emperor Trajan (perhaps the inspiration for The Bangles hit Walk Like an Egyptian?).
But, it’s the capitals topping the 24 columns in the hypostyle hall that are the star of the show. Every column appears to be unique and each is really marvelous, even after you’ve seen a lot of temples.