Esna IV
Introduction
David Klotz
This is a continuation of my ongoing quest to translate all the Roman inscriptions from Esna temple. The previous two volumes are now complete, and can be found here: Esna II and Esna III. I will continue to make changes and updates to those, including some desperately needed proof-reading.
The Present Volume
Esna IV covers the architraves along the ceiling of the pronaos. The ceiling of the temple was conceived in antiquity as a replica of the sky, so constellations and other astronomical figures were projected over this space. As such, many of the texts are captions to the various figures, while the longer inscriptions link various astrological concepts to the local theology of Esna.
Many of the longer texts were already translated with commentary by Von Lieven 2000, with alternate readings by Kurth 2004. The very detailed, over-sized hieroglyphs along the architraves were analyzed by Meeks 2004. Finally, the representations of the various stars, decans, and constellations have been analyzed elsewhere, most recently by Mendel 2022.
In the past few years, a joint Egyptian-German project has carefully removed soot from the ceiling and columns, revealing newly visible painted details, particularly affecting the captions and iconographic details of the astronomical figures. Progress so far has been published in el-Leithy et al. 2019 and el-Leithy et al. 2021. One may also compare various media reports here, here, or here on this amazing work.
For recent updates, follow the Esna Temple Project on Facebook, who regularly post photographs of the restoration work in progress. There is also a recent (October 2022) lecture on the subject by Prof. Christian Leitz:
All the published volumes of Esna temple were recently (2021) released as open-access PDFs by the IFAO. Each translation will contain a link to the original hieroglyphic text, and details about major secondary literature.
So far, 75/75 (100%) of the texts from Esna IV are complete and online. As with previous volumes, the present transliterations and translations are provisional, and I plan to proofread and standardize spellings after I have completed the remaining Esna volumes, and prepare comprehensive indexes.
Technical Notes
For each inscription, I link directly to the relevant page of the PDF publications from the IFAO. If you receive an error in this case, usually refreshing the tab with the new link tends to resolve the issue.
Contribute!
I welcome any feedback for this project, whether regarding the format, corrections, alternative suggestions for translations, or notes to any important references I might have overlooked. Or perhaps you would like to volunteer to translate certain texts! You may contact me directly at shemanefer@gmail.com. I will of course fully acknowledge any suggestions, and add you to the list of contributors.
I would also appreciate help with relevant bibliography, especially newer journal articles or monographs. I already have most basic references in digital or paper form, but if you noticing any major omissions, please let me know.