Esna is situated about 50 kilometres south of Luxor. The temple stands in the middle of the town about 9 metres below the level of the town. The building dates back to the Greek and Roman period, but texts suggest that it was built on the site of a previous temple built by Tuthmosis III.
Under the Greeks and Romans the city was the capital of the third nome of Upper Egypt.
The temple has depictions from Ptolemy VI and Claudius and beyond, with some of its decoration from as late as the 3rd century AD.
Only the hypostyle hall has been completely excavated, the rest of the temple and its outbuildings remain buried under the town of Esna. The roof of the hall is still in tact and supported by four rows of six twelve metre high columns. The capitals of the columns are extremely ornate and some colour still exists.
The columns and walls depict religious festivals of the town and show Roman Emperors with the gods. One column shows the Emperor Trajan dancing befor the goddess Menheyet.
The whole structure is symetrical except for a small chamber to the south. The decoration includes both Egyptian and Roman themes.
The temple is dedicated to Knum, the ram headed potter who moulded the primeval egg on his potter's wheel, from which the sun sprang forth at the beginning of time.. Knum moulded all the gods on his wheel and he was also guardian of the Nile and controlled the annual inundation.
The columns in the hypostyle hall are said to represent the plants of the primeval swamp and on the top of some of the capitals the builders of the temple have cut out small frogs representing the creatures of the swamp.
The ceiling is decorated with Egyptian and Roman astronomical figures. The walls are decorated with texts describing religious festivals and reliefs and carvings showing the Emperors making offerings to the gods.
On the rear wall of the temple a border relief describes how Knum creates all the people and animals on his potter's wheel and then describes the process of conception, gestation and birth and how people grow and evolve.
It is thought that there is more of the temple and its complex still buried under the town of Esna but at the moment there are no plans to excavate. The temple demonstrates how the Romans copied the Egyptian style of building whilst adding their own style of artwork.
