A team of restorers from Egypt ‘s Supreme Council of Antiquities has managed to reveal, for the first time ever, a view of the zodiac on the ceiling of the hypostyle hall from the southern side of the Temple of Esna , as well as views of gods and animals appearing for the first time, during the works of the project of registration, documentation and restoration of the temple and to show its original colors, which is carried out by the archaeological mission. The joint Egyptian-German Center for the Registration of Egyptian Antiquities and the University of Tübingen confirmed the find:
This was stated by Dr. Mostafa Waziri , Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, pointing out that these scenes did not exist in the previous and only scientific publication of the temple, which was done by French Egyptologist Serge Sonron , which adds new importance to this temple and its unique inscriptions:
Waziri added that this find will go a long way in increasing the flow of Egyptian visitors and tourists and encourage them to visit the temple to enjoy these unique astronomical scenes , especially since there is no complete representation of constellation view in ancient Egypt except for two examples in Dendera Temple in Qena Governorate:
For his part, Hisham Al-Laithi , head of the mission on the Egyptian side and head of central administration at the Egyptian Antiquities Recording Center , said the view of the zodiac that was revealed depicts the twelve astronomical constellations from Aries to Pisces , as well as representing the outer planets, which are Jupiter , Saturn and Mars , which is a representation of the so-called seven arrows , as well as some stars or constellations, they were used by the ancient Egyptians to measure time :
Christian Lietz , head of the mission on the German side, added that a number of scenes depicting a number of Egyptian gods and animals, including snakes and crocodiles , were also discovered, as were scenes of complex creatures such as a snake with a ram’s head or of a bird with a crocodile head, a snake’s tail and four wings, as well as further inscriptions in black ink, with the names of divine beings:
It should be noted that the census, documentation and restoration project of the Temple of Esna foresees documentation, restoration and cleaning works of the internal walls of the temple, as well as the fixing of the colors and the removal of the soot from the various rooms and walls, the cleaning of the soot and dirt, removing salts from the temple walls and ceiling and showing the original colors of the inscriptions, especially the astronomical inscriptions that adorn the temple roof, much of which the restoration team was able to show earlier during the work which took place during previous seasons of the project, where the temple’s colorful sculptures suffered, over the centuries, from the accumulation of thick layers of soot, dirt, grime, bird and bat waste, spider nests,as well as salt calcifications, which made it necessary to prepare a project for the restoration and development of the temple to preserve it and its unique and distinct inscriptions, and to preserve this unique monument which dates back toRoman era :
The history of the temple dates back to Roman times and its construction began in 186 BC. Its construction took about 400 years to complete, when it was completed in 250 AD. The temple consists of a pillared hall comprising 24 columns with inscriptions and scenes from the Ptolemaic kings and Roman emperors. Video links:
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