New colours of an ancient temple: unique frescoes discovered in Egypt (PHOTO)

In the Egyptian city of Esna, 60 kilometres south of Luxor, extensive restoration work is underway on a Roman-era temple. Although the temple itself has not survived, its imposing entrance hall, or pronalos, discovered more than 200 years ago, remains completely intact.

Since 2018, an Egyptian-German project led by Professor Christian Leitz from the University of Tübingen and Hisham El-Leity from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities has been restoring the temple. For 1,800 years, the walls and columns have been covered in soot due to fires that locals used to build inside the structure.

A team of 30 Egyptian restorers, led by Ahmed Emam, uncovered the bright colours of astronomical images on the ceiling and restored 18 interior columns. The latest work revealed new details in the depictions of the king and gods, their clothes, crowns and thrones, previously hidden under a layer of soot.

Of particular interest was the scene of the offering of bows and arrows to the goddess Neith, where four painted bows were found on the throne. This may be a reference to the "nine bows" - a symbolic designation of Upper and Lower Egypt and seven other territories under the Pharaoh's rule. Also recovered was a detailed painting on the king's apron, decorated with papyrus and lily, symbols of Lower and Upper Egypt respectively, emphasising his rule over the two lands.

The most impressive find was the sacred barque of the local god Khnum, carried by several priests. This procession depicts the removal of the shrine from the depths of the temple, allowing the people of Esna to see it on special days, whereas at other times it was only accessible to the priests.

Restoration work will continue in November, focusing on cleaning the exterior of the six front columns. The project is funded by the Ancient Egypt Foundation, the American Research Centre in Egypt and the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

The temple's pronalos - a sandstone structure 37 metres long, 20 metres wide and 15 metres high - was erected during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) and was probably much larger than the temple itself. Its location in the centre of the city contributed to the preservation of the structure, which attracted the attention of scholars even in Napoleonic times as an ideal example of ancient Egyptian architecture.