The Temples of Karnak

Luxor - East Bank of the River

The Temples of Karnak

Thebes was the capital of the New Kingdom of Egypt and rose in importance when the sanctuary of the god Montu was located here. The Luxor and Karnak temples together were known as Thebes - Thebes being the later Greek name for the city. The history of the Karnak temple and its gods is told in three different languages, and every evening it takes us into a world of spectacular sound and light shows.
Karnak is the largest temple complex in the world, covering 100 hectares, and there is nowhere more impressive for a tourist visiting Egypt for the first time. Much of it has been restored over the last century, and our knowledge of Karnak in the various periods of Egyptian history continues to grow every year.

In ancient times Karnak was known as Ipet-isut, which translates as "the most select of places".
The temples are built along two axes (east-west and north-south) from the original sanctuaries.

On the western side is the temple entrance used by tourists, which was once a quay built by Ramesses II to give access through a canal to the Nile. Here the boats carrying the statues of the gods arrived and departed during festivals such as Opet, and from here the cult image of Amun left for the weekly visit to the West Bank temples such as Deir el-Bahari and Medinet Habu.
On the right, opposite the first pylon, there is a small shrine built by Hakor of the 29th dynasty, used as a resting place during the processions of the gods to and from the river.
An avenue of ram-headed sphinxes leads the visitor to the massive front of the first pylon, each one holding a statue of King Ramesses II between its paws (later appropriated by Pinedjem of the 21st dynasty). The sphinxes were fantastic creatures with the body of a lion and the head of a ram, symbolising the god Amun.
Karnak can be a confusing place; its buildings span a long period in the history of Egypt. Most tourists on guided tours have very little time to see all the temples, and it would take many visits to grasp the whole idea of the temple as a whole.