Esna revisited

Al Ahram Weekly (Giovanna Montalbetti)

With photographs.

History is fickle: a city bursting with life today may well slip into oblivion tomorrow. The cycle that seems unavoidable for all cities and empires, albeit to greater or lesser degrees, is sometimes quick and definite, leaving no physical trace of a given site's former glory. This is the case of Troy, for instance. In other cases, the process is slower and the cities remain, and instead decay very gradually. Ironically this is the more lethal blog to a city's fame. A city whose brightness slowly fades is not the stuff of legends, as it does not trigger the imagination, nor does it awaken our curiosity.

Speaking with General Manager of Coptic and Islamic Monuments of Upper Egypt Nasr Mohamed Ewedah, I realised that although it remains one of the region's most important cities, Esna has definitely lost some of its past lustre.

Located some 33 miles south of Luxor, Esna has been known under many different names. During Pharaonic times it was Iunyt -- after the goddess featured in the Amduat -- and later Ta Senet, meaning the Holy City. The Greeks knew it as Latopolis for it was believed here the perch-like fish, lates, embodied the goddess Neith, considered sacred in the area. It was said that a cemetery for these holy fish was located west of the city.

According to Ewedah, Esna's most important monuments from the Pharaonic period are the Al-Muaalla tombs on the east bank of the River Nile, featuring that of Ankhtifi, from the First Intermediate Period. Few visitors come to see them though, as Esna is best known nowadays for the Ptolemaic temple of Khnum, and for being the location of the locks crossed while on the Nile cruises.

See the above page for the full story.