Karnak Temple

Located on the east bank of Luxor, the temples of Karnak and Luxor were established in honor of the god Amun. In the past, the two temples were linked by an avenue of ram-headed sphinxes, representing the god Amun, who became the state god during the 18th Dynasty, transforming Karnak to one of the most important religious centres in the country. Subsequently, the immense wealth of Thebes was spent embellishing and building temples in his honor.

Amun was represented in his original state as a goose and later as a ram, at the height of his power he was shown as a human with a head dress of feathers.

About three kilometres from the temple at Luxor one finds the vast zone covered by the monuments at Karnak which the Greeks called Hermonthis, known as 'The Most Select of Places'. Karnak temple was not only the spiritual center of the Egyptians, but also one of the most important intellectual centres in antiquity. The scale of Karnak surpasses every other pharaonic temple. It covers about 1.5km by 0.8km. The area of the sacred enclosure of Amun alone could hold ten average European cathedrals. For 13 centuries, successive pharaohs, though most of the work was done by the pharaohs of the New Kingdom(1570-1100BC), added their share to make this the most magnificent temple complex in the country and in the entire ancient world.

The whole complex can he divided into three main areas: the largest and the most important is the temple dedicated to Amun, to the north is the sanctuary of Mont, the god of war, and the sanctuary of the goddess Mut, Amun's wife, to the south, who is symbolically represented as a vulture. Generally, the further into the temple you venture, the further back in time you travel.

The great temple of Amun is the largest temple supported by columns in the world and is so vast that it could easily contain the whole of Notre Dame de Paris. The most imposing element of the Temple of Karnak is however, the 3,000-plus-year-old Great Hypostyle Hall inside the Temple of Amun, which is found after passing through the Second Pylon. The hall is 102 metres long by 53 metres wide, in which there stand, defying the centuries, 134 columns 23 metres high. Construction began during Ramses I's reign. He was the king who founded the Nineteenth Dynasty and was king for only one year. The work continued under Seti I (1306 - 1290 BC). Later, the hall was completed by Seti's son, Ramses II. The central row of 12 columns on the east-west axis are 23 meters in height, and about 10 meters in circumference. The tops of the open papyrus shaped capitals have a circumference of about fifteen metres and are big enough for fifty people to stand on them. The walls, ceilings and columns are painted with the natural earth tones, and The light that was allowed in originally kept most of the hall in shadows. Like all other temples in Egypt, this one symbolizes the mound of the original creation.

Leaving the hypostyle hall through the third pylon you come to a narrow court where there once stood several obelisks. One of the obelisks was erected by Tuthmosis I (1504 - 1492 BC) who was the father of Hatshepsut. This obelisk is 23 metres high and weighs about 143 tonnes. Beyond this obelisk is the only remaining Obelisk of Hatshepsut (1473-1458 BC), for the construction of which, it is said that, the queen spared no expense. The obelisk is 29.6 metres high and weighs approximately 320 tonnes. Besides the Lateran obelisk in Rome, this is the tallest standing obelisk. Hatshepsut was a woman who dared to challenge the tradition of male kingship. After her death, her name and memory suffered attempted systematic obliteration. The Fifth Pylon was also built by Tuthmosis I and is followed immediately by the Sixth Pylon of Karnak Temple, where the priests kept the portable shrine used by the god's statue in processions. In the vestibule, built by Tuthmosis III (c.1479-1425 B.C.), are the Wall of Records, a list of Nubian and Asian enemies conquered by Tuthmosis and two granite columns, elegant reminders of the importance of the concept of a unified Upper (Nile valley) and Lower (Nile delta) Egypt. These columns are decorated in raised relief with the papyrus, the symbol of Lower Egypt, on the left and the lotus, the symbol of Upper Egypt, on the right.

Beyond the Central Court , the site of the original 12th Dynasty temple of Amun, lies the Jubilee Temple of Tuthmosis III. The Festival Hall has fine reliefs of the king celebrating his jubilee. There is another marvelous hypostyle hall here with two rows of ten columns and one row of 32 rectangular pillars. Further south one can find the partly excavated Sanctuary of Mut.

All Egyptian temples had a sacred lake, Karnak's is considered the largest. This 120 metre lake was used during festivals when images of the gods would sail across it on golden barges. To the north of Amun's Temple, is the Open Air Museum with some reconstructed early buildings.