Luxor Temple

Luxor - East Bank of the River

Luxor Temple In the centre of Luxor stands the temple once known as "Ipet-resyt" or "the southern Opet", which served as a focal point for the Opet festival. Once a year the divine image of Amun, with his consort Mut and their son Khonsu, travelled in their sacred barques from the Karnak temples to the temple at Luxor for the festival, which took place during the flood.

The primary function of Opet was religious, but the festival was also important in maintaining the king and his divine role.
The earliest remains found at Luxor Temple date from the 13th dynasty, and it is possible there was no sanctuary on this site in the Middle Kingdom, but it became more prominent in the 18th dynasty. It seems Hatshepsut first began the overland processional way that linked the Karnak and Luxor temples.

It was Amenhotep III who built the colonnade and court at the heart of the temple, which was added to by other pharaohs. Blocks of Hatshepsut, Thutmose III and Amenhotep II from earlier demolished structures were re-used.
Unusually, the temple does not face the river, but on its main axis stands Karnak, with the remains of the avenue of sphinxes indicating the processional way. This remaining 200-metre avenue of human-headed sphinxes was erected by Nectanebo I to replace the original sphinxes of Amenhotep III. A Roman sanctuary with a headless statue of Isis can be seen in the north-western corner of the court.
The modern entrance is on the west, and on entering the visitor meets the huge first pylon, 21 m high. Six statues of Ramesses stood before the pylon, together with a pair of tall obelisks.

The north-western obelisk now stands in the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The pylon is decorated on its outer face with scenes of the battles of Ramesses II and the famous "poem of the battle", best seen in the morning sun. The inner face has the dedication text and records of the Battle of Kadesh, as well as festival scenes.
Entering among the colonnades of Amenhotep III, you can notice slight changes in the axis of the earlier part of the temple. These colonnades and 14 columns remained unfinished at the death of Amenhotep, and their decoration was completed under Tutankhamun (and finally under Seti I).

Here you can see superbly executed reliefs of the Opet procession to and from Karnak on the western and eastern walls, although the name of Tutankhamun was changed in all the texts to that of Horemheb. They are best seen at night, when the temple is illuminated.
During the Roman occupation of Egypt, Luxor was surrounded by an extensive military camp that could hold up to 1,500 men. At that time the temple ceased to have a religious function, and many blocks from the outer temple buildings were probably used to supplement the Roman barracks. The remains of stone pillars and avenues are still visible around the temple enclosure.
A Christian basilica was built at the north-eastern corner of the temple, and in its place a mosque dedicated to the Muslim saint Abu al-Haggag was raised. It is now a landmark dominating the eastern side of the court of Ramesses.