Esne, Or Esneh(anc. Lato or Latopolis), a town of Upper Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile, lat. 25° 20' N., 28 m. S. S. W. of Thebes; pop. in 1870 estimated at 12,000. Until within a few years it was a dirty, poverty-stricken place, with mud houses, and in 1834 it was selected as a place of banishment for the ghawazi or dancing women of Cairo, and other females obnoxious to the laws. It is the emporium of the Abyssinian trade, contains manufactories of cotton goods, shawls, and pottery, and is a celebrated camel market. It is the seat of a Coptic bishop, and has three Coptic churches. The ancient city was large and important, and its remains are mostly buried under large mounds covering the adjacent country. In the centre of the modern town, surrounded by filthy hovels, stands the portico of a great temple, in a fine state of preservation. It is supported by 24 massive pillars, each 5 1/2 ft. in diameter and 40 ft, high. The portico is 112 ft. long, 53 ft. broad, and covered with sculptures and hieroglyphics.

On its ceiling is a zodiac, like that of Denderah; over the dedication at the entrance are the names of Tiberius Claudius Caesar, Germanicus, and Vespasian, and within occur those of Trajan, Hadrian, and Antoninus. The hieroglyphic inscriptions show that the oldest part of the temple was built by Ptolemy Epiphanes, about 200 B. C.; the portico was erected by the emperor Claudius, about A. I). 50; other portions are of still later date, the latest being erected by Vespasian, about 70. In 1843 Mehemet Ali had it cleared of the rubbish which filled the interior, and used it as a cotton warehouse.

Remains at Esne.