CAIRO — The joint Egyptian-German archaeological mission working on the restoration of the Temple of Esna, which sits on the west bank of the Nile 55 kilometers (34 miles) to the south of Luxor, has unveiled, for the first time, the inscriptions, reliefs and colors of the temple’s ceilings and walls after completing restoration and cleaning works.

Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Mustafa Waziri explained in a press statement May 15 that the restoration and cleaning works at the temple unveiled the original and bright inscriptions and colors found under the ceiling above the temple entrance, which is located at a height of 14 meters (46 feet).

The reliefs, Waziri noted, portray 46 eagles in two rows, 24 of which carry an eagle’s head and represent Nekhbet, the goddess of Upper Egypt from El Kab, while the other 22 have a cobra head and represent Wadjet, the goddess of Lower Egypt.

He stressed that no relief or picture of this ceiling had previously appeared in the scientific publication of the French Egyptologist Serge Soniron, who documented and photographed the temple inscriptions and engravings between 1963 and 1975.