  We present a spectral and imaging analysis of the XMM-Newton and Chandra
observations of the Seyfert 2 galaxy ESO138-G001, with the aim of
characterizing the circumnuclear material responsible for the soft (0.3-2.0
keV) and hard (5-10 keV) X-ray emission. We confirm that the source is absorbed
by Compton-thick gas. However, if a self-consistent model of reprocessing from
cold toroidal material is used (MYTorus), a possible scenario requires the
absorber to be inhomogenous, its column density along the line of sight being
larger than the average column density integrated over all lines- of-sight
through the torus. The iron emission line may be produced by moderately ionised
iron (FeXII-FeXIII), as suggested by the shifted centroid energy and the low
K{\beta}/K{\alpha} flux ratio. The soft X-ray emission is dominated by emission
features, whose main excitation mechanism appears to be photoionisation, as
confirmed by line diagnostics and the use of self-consistent models (CLOUDY).
