Esna

Town in Egypt, about 53 km/33 mi south of the ruins of Thebes, on the left bank of the Nile. It has ruins of an ancient temple to the ram-headed god Khnum, built in the time of the Ptolemies but largely decorated by the Roman emperors Claudius, Vespasian, and others.

Esna also possesses a Coptic monastery. A barrage was built at Esna and opened in 1909 to hold up the Nile water in low floods.