Temple of Amenhotep III

Luxor West Bank - Temples

The Temple of Amenhotep III - The mortuary temple of Amenhotep III was the largest temple ever built on the West Bank, covering 35 hectares, and one of the largest religious structures in Egypt. At the time of its construction in the 18th dynasty it rivalled the temple of Amun at Karnak in size. Kom el-Hetan, the modern name for the temple of Amenhotep, lies about half a kilometre south-east of Medinet Habu and stretches from the Colossi of Memnon back to the bend by the ancient Inspectorates.
The mortuary temple of Amenhotep decayed quickly, probably because of the water content in the ground on which it was built. Until recently all that remained identifiable were the two massive statues of the pharaoh that stood at its entrance gate, known already in antiquity as the "Colossi of Memnon". At the beginning of the 19th dynasty, Merenptah may have re-used many blocks from the site of the temple of Amenhotep in building his own mortuary monument.
We know the general outline of the temple from the traces of its pillars and columns, which lay buried on the site for centuries. They were listed as one of Petrie "Six Temples at Thebes", but were never properly excavated. Pieces of architecture are now re-emerging, including the columned halls at the back of the temple, uncovered during excavations by a team of Egyptian and German archaeologists in recent years.