Vivant Denon's Re-discovery of Ancient Egypt. Part 1

Denon found it incredibly disappointing having to leave Thebes so soon after arrival but already the following day, on 27 January 1799, the army arrived in Esna where the magnificent Ptolemaic Temple of Khnum awaited him.

Upon arrival in Esna, the French learned that Murad Bey had left the previous evening, his tent and heavy baggage abandoned – and ablaze – to allow for a swifter journey. This was obviously a great disappointment to many. A few found grounds for optimism nonetheless: Esna was the ancient Latopolis, a Ptolemaic provincial capital, and consequently a potential treasure trove of ancient monuments.

Right in the centre of town Denon found a beautifully carved temple (or part of one) similar to the temple at Dendera. The Temple of Khnum has happily since been cleared of rubbish and debris but it is nevertheless still submerged, its base some 30 feet below street level.

In Denon’s day there was a market, still there today surrounded by the modern houses that still fringe the temple confines, and his impression cannot have been all that different from that of today’s visitor: that of an ancient, hidden gem sunken in more than 2,000 years of human residue.

Construction on the temple’s only remaining part – the Hypostyle Hall – was actually begun under the Roman Emperor Claudius in the 1st century AD. The walls are one grand display of Roman emperors. On the inside Septimus Severus, Caracalla, Marcus Aurelius and Geta are seen standing before Khnum. On the outside Titus and Trajan are shown victorious in battle, holding their enemies by the hair poised to smite them with a mace.

The image of the king, his mace and enemies, is probably one of the most durable images of royal power ever, the earliest known example of which is a representation of King Narmer made more than 3,000 years earlier. All succeeding rulers employed this symbolic image of triumph over chaos and national unity, the Ptolemies and Romans no exception; it was a royal pose Denon would see time and again.

As with the temple at Dendera, the Temple of Khnum is another example of foreign rulers incorporating Egyptian style in an effort to appease the local population. Denon wasn’t yet wholly familiar with temple design and he wondered if an extensive excavation of the site would reveal a sanctuary, the most sacred chamber of the temple. There would certainly have been a sanctuary in antiquity. Whether the sacred core of the temple lies intact buried underneath the modern city is also a question that many Egyptologists still ponder.  While some believe this to be the case, it is unlikely that we will ever know for sure, for an excavation would entail extensive demolition of civilian homes.