We woke up docked in Esna, a small sleepy town. Or maybe it was just us that was sleepy after such a long day the previous day. The Nile was mirror flat and small boats were the only ones out and about. We took a short tour around town first. We saw the leaning minaret, all that is left of a shrine that fell down in an earthquake. We saw a man sewing galabias, the traditional Egyptian onesie that we would later purchase for our own. We also saw a man who irons the galabias, the pharmacist, a man at the loom, a pillow maker and then it was the temple. This temple lies 30 feet below street level and was buried that deep before conservation started on it. The temple was really cool and the cleaned ceilings were impressive. There was a cat roaming around that was alternating between hissing and wanting some affection. It scratched one of the people on the tour, drawing blood and causing her hand to redden. We toured the old customs house from the 1700's. It was built on a previous customs house that was purported to be located at the end of the silk road.
A lonely fisherman
More smoky than foggy
The Nile is wide here
The dam is just downstream
Not the leaning one
The smaller minaret had a serious lean
More earthquake damage
Egypt's eagle
The happy sewing man
Looks like a normal iron
But he uses his foot
Folks stopping for breakfast
The pharmacist
The old keys to his shop
Rug maker
Fluffing the cotton for pillows
The temple. Note the street level to the right
It is in very good shape
Exterior drawings intact
The folks int he front show haw very large the temple is
Some extra bits were displayed outside
Even a standing sphinx
Another Egyptian eagle
Look how detailed the column capital was
The flying rat!
An early form of Limbo, of course the Pharaoh is nailing it
Very well preserved engravings
Oops a face was chiseled off
Inside we go
Ta da!
So many vultures
The colors and the detail!
There were four different styles at the top of the columns
Some still getting worked on
Workers were on site and working hard
Three different styles
Look Ma. I have hands
Two more styles
Nicely preserved
This showed the phases of the moon
The phased of the moon are shown
Still another design
Birds flying
Fish swimming
Cobras coiling int he ancient constellations
More constellations in the sky
Zodiac signs
These Zodiac signs are shown with other stars around them
Two dogs pulling a boat with the scarab that pushes the sun onto the sky
At dawn the sun is an infant sucking its finger
So beautiful
And colorful too
The big picture on the exterior wall
Almost a hummingbird
A fist full of enemy heads
A biting lion
Catching a turtle
Antelope for dinner
Me and the Lion
A snail?
Water spouts
Some fine wooden craftsmanship
Carved and sagging with the weight of time
Old door
Nice interior
Spacious and utilitarian
