Ancient colors brought to light: German and Egyptian archaeologists have uncovered a spectacular ceiling painting in the temple of Esna that was hidden under a layer of soot. It consists of a total of 46 representations of mythical creatures with spread vulture wings, the details of which were previously unknown. According to the experts, they symbolize the crown goddesses Nekhbet and Wadje and date from the last epoch of ancient Egyptian history. Further investigations should now clarify the connections between the various inscriptions and representations inside the temple.
It is already famous for its particularly colorfully preserved decorations and rich inscriptions: while in other remains of ancient Egyptian buildings the depictions have mostly faded or disappeared entirely, in the temple of Esna they have survived the centuries. Because they slumbered there under a sometimes thick layer of dirt and soot that kept them from decay. The Temple of Esna is located about 55 kilometers south of Luxor in the middle of the city of the same name. However, only the vestibule of the sanctuary, which preceded the actual temple building of the ram-headed god Chnum, has been preserved.
Covered by dirt and grime – and protected
This so-called pronaos is 37 meters long, 20 meters wide and its 15 meter high roof is supported by 24 richly decorated columns. Interestingly, while the parts of the temple that have disappeared date back to Ptolemaic times, this porch was only constructed around 2000 years ago. At that time the country on the Nile was already a Roman province. However, the Egyptians continued their ancient cults during this period. They depicted the Roman emperors as pharaohs – as on the outer facade of the Esna temple.
The fact that the porch has been so surprisingly well preserved probably has something to do with its location in the center of Esna: the building grew up there with other buildings and the rooms continued to be used. This is how the conserving layer of dirt and soot came about on the illustrations. However, the French Egyptologist Serge Sauneron was the first to recognize the treasure. “From the 1950s he systematically documented the temple of Esna and the sculptures that were visible at the time,” says Daniel von Recklinghausen. Since 2018 he has been working together with his colleagues from the University of Tübingen and the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to further uncover the reliefs, paintings and inscriptions of the temple and to make the original colors visible again. The Egyptologists have already come across interesting new discoveries.
Crowned symbol figures
Now the team is presenting another work of art that slumbered under the soot and has so far remained largely hidden from experts. This series of richly colored depictions adorns the central ceiling section of the temple and borders the inscribed north transom. As the Egyptologists explain, there are a total of 46 relief-like images of the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet. They are depicted as vultures with outstretched wings. According to the experts, both mythological figures are so-called crown goddesses who represented Upper and Lower Egypt: While Nechbet wears a vulture’s head and the Upper Egyptian crown, Wadjet can be recognized by the Lower Egyptian crown, which sits on the head of a cobra.
The impressive ceiling painting is thus a further element that clarifies the importance of the Esna Temple: “The pictorial program of the temple is unique in terms of the richness of the representations and the state of preservation of the colors,” says von Recklinghausen. As reported by the University of Tübingen, more than half of the ceilings and eight of the 18 columns have now been cleaned, conserved and documented. “This allows the decorative elements to be related to each other,” says the Tübingen Egyptologist Christian Leitz. The Tübingen Egyptologist is now planning a complete translation of the Esna inscriptions and is also working on the connections between the various inscriptions and depictions inside the temple.
Source: University of Tubingen