Esna Attractions
ACCESS. 34miles/54km south of Luxor on the Nile Valley road; 30miles/49km northwest of Edfu on an asphalted road. By rail (station on east bank of Nile).
History
In ancient times Esna, with the adjoining town of Enit or Yunit, was one of the most important places in Upper Egypt. Its Egyptian name was Tesnet, from which the Coptic Sne and Arabic Esna are derived. The Greeks called the town Latopolis, after the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), a fish revered as sacred and buried in extensive cemeteries. During the medieval period the town regained importance and a modest degree of prosperity as a caravan station and as a market for the agricultural produce of the area. Esna is one of the main centers of the Coptic faith in Egypt.
History
In ancient times Esna, with the adjoining town of Enit or Yunit, was one of the most important places in Upper Egypt. Its Egyptian name was Tesnet, from which the Coptic Sne and Arabic Esna are derived. The Greeks called the town Latopolis, after the Nile perch (Lates niloticus), a fish revered as sacred and buried in extensive cemeteries. During the medieval period the town regained importance and a modest degree of prosperity as a caravan station and as a market for the agricultural produce of the area. Esna is one of the main centers of the Coptic faith in Egypt.
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Temple of Khnum
The Temple of Khnum, dating to the Ptolemaic period, is 9 m below street level in Esna.
Kom Meir
A temple of the Roman Imperial period has recently been excavated at Kom Meir, 7.5mi/12km southeast of Esna.
Monastery of SS Manaos and Sanutios
Around Esna are the ruins of a number of Coptic monasteries and churches. 3.5mi/5.5km south is the Monastery of SS Manaos and Sanutios, said to have been founded by the Empress Helena, which has, in addition to its modern church, an ancient church decorated with frescos, now covered with whitewash.
Monastery of St Matthias
6mi/10km north of Esna is Deir Amba Matteos, the Monastery of St Matthias. 4mi/6km west of Esna is a rock cut church with frescos.
Quay
Other relics of the Roman period in Esna are an ancient quay with fragments of inscriptions (cartouches of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius) and the remains of a Nilometer, also dating from Imperial times. Nothing remains of four other temples known to have existed here, including one in ancient Contra Latopolis, on the east bank of the Nile at the village of el-Hilla.
Sarnikh, Egypt
(Near Esna)
On the east bank of the Nile, some 2.25mi/4km southwest of the railroad station, lies the village of Sarnikh, where there are two important rock cut stelae dating from the beginning of Amenophis IV's reign.
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