CAIRO, EGYPT—According to an Ahram Online report, Egyptian and German archaeologists have cleaned the walls and ceilings of Luxor’s Temple of Esna from dust, salts, and bird droppings, revealing images of 46 birds arranged in two rows. Mostafa Waziri of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said that it is the first time that the artworks have been seen in 2,000 years. Some of the birds have the head of the Upper Egypt goddess Nekhbet, and others have the head of the Lower Egypt goddess Wadjet. The conservators also found a Roman engraving on the western side of the temple. The construction of the building, which is dedicated to the Egyptian god Khnum and his consorts, is thought to have been started during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius, from A.D. 41 to 54, and completed by the emperor Domitian during his rule from A.D. 81 to 96. Decoration of the temple continued into the reign of the emperor Decius, from A.D. 249 to 251. To read about a New Kingdom settlement recently discovered at Luxor, go to "Golden City," one of ARCHAEOLOGY's Top 10 Discoveries of 2021.
Restoration Reveals Engravings in Egypt’s Temple of Esna
News May 13, 2022
Recommended Articles
Digs & Discoveries May/June 2024
Speaking in Golden Tongues
Features November/December 2021
When Isis Was Queen
At the ancient Egyptian temples of Philae, Nubians gave new life to a vanishing religious tradition
Digs & Discoveries January/February 2019
A Lost Sock's Secrets
Digs & Discoveries July/August 2024
Sticking Their Necks Out
-
Features March/April 2022
The Last King of Babylon
Investigating the reign of Mesopotamia’s most eccentric ruler
(iStock/HomoCosmicos) -
Features March/April 2022
Paradise Lost
Archaeologists in Nova Scotia are uncovering evidence of thriving seventeenth-century French colonists and their brutal expulsion
(© Jamie Robertson) -
Features March/April 2022
Exploring Notre Dame's Hidden Past
The devastating 2019 fire is providing an unprecedented look at the secrets of the great cathedral
(Patrick Zachmann) -
Letter from Doggerland March/April 2022
Mapping a Vanished Landscape
Evidence of a lost Mesolithic world lies deep beneath the dark waters of the North Sea
(M.J. Thomas)