Karnak Temple
Karnak Temple is a vast complex of ancient Egyptian sacral structures erected during the Pharaonic era. The grandiose architectural ensemble is spread out on the banks of the Nile within the city of Luxor. Karnak Temple is one of the main tourist attractions of Egypt. The imagination of travelers is struck by colossal portals and colonnades covered with hieroglyphic writings, huge obelisks and statues, a long alley with hundreds of stone sphinxes. Tourists from all over the world strive to admire this pearl of ancient architecture.
Video: Karnak Temple
Contents- Highlights
- History of Karnak Temple
- Sphinx Alley
Walking around the Karnak Temple - Practical information
- Where to eat
- How to get there
Highlights
The Karnak Temple, together with the nearby Theban Necropolis (Valley of the Kings), is prominently listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every year, this magnificent architectural complex attracts as many tourists as the pyramids at Giza. Tour buses and domestic flights from Cairo, Aswan, Alexandria, and Egypt’s Red Sea resort cities head here.
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To receive guests in Luxor built more than 200 hotels, there is an international airport, receiving airliners from many countries, there is a railway station and intercity bus station. Not far from the colonnades of the Karnak temple on the Nile embankment are built piers that accept cruise ships and pleasure yachts.
.History of the Karnak Temple
In the oldest surviving ancient Egyptian chronicles, the first mention of the Karnak Temple of Amon in Thebes dates back to about 2055 B.C. It was probably a small but significant sanctuary for the Egyptians on the eastern bank of the Nile. Nearby was a village of fishermen with a military fort, known today by the Arabic name El Karnak, which means “fortified town.”
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In those distant times, there was a struggle to unite Upper and Lower Egypt, and the cities to the north, in the Nile Delta, were occupied by the Hyksos, a mysterious “people of the sea” whose origins are still uncertain.
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The erection of the grandiose temple began in the holy city of Thebes under Pharaoh Amenhotep III, one of the greatest builders in the history of ancient Egypt. The ruler came from a powerful family that owned vast lands in Upper Egypt. After gaining the crown, he decided to move the capital of the country here.
Amenhotep kept the temple dedicated to the solar deity Amon-Ra, king of the gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Shrines were also erected here in honor of his divine consort Mut and son Khonsu. These gods are known as the Theban triad. Thus, political and religious power was concentrated in Thebes.
From the time of Amenhotep for one and a half thousand years, the Karnak Temple was the main shrine of ancient Egypt. By the way, another mega-project of Amenhotep was the erection of a vast sanctuary on the opposite bank of the Nile, opposite the Karnak Temple. Initially, these buildings were part of a single complex. Structures, wiped out by cataclysms, have long disappeared in the thickness of the sands, but two giant 700-ton statues, known today as the Colossi of Memnon, have survived. It is established that the temple and statues were destroyed in a powerful earthquake that struck Egypt in 1200 BC, but in the XIX century the statues were restored from the scattered debris. Amateurs carried out the restoration very ineptly, the stones are laid in a shoddy manner, with great deviations. As the temperature drops in the evenings, cooled air rushes out of the crevices, causing strange sounds. Since then, superstitious Egyptians have called the statues “singing” and claim that the mighty Pharaoh imprisoned insidious genies crying out for help in the ancient stones.
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Since then, for many centuries, the temple was abandoned. During the floods of the Nile, the buildings were gradually covered with silt, sand and rubble. Over time, the riverbed shifted to the west. Today, the structures of Karnak are located 400 meters from the shore of the Nile. The fact that the temple once stood by the water is evidenced by the ancient embankment made of hewn stones. Here were moored cargo barges, bringing the builders granite blocks from the quarries of Aswan.
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By the beginning of our era on the site of the temple formed a hill, overgrown with bushes. In the XIII century Muslims erected a mosque on its top in honor of the descendant of the Prophet Muhammad, the righteous Sheikh Abu al-Haggag, who settled there. Curiously, the descendants of the Sheikh still live in Luxor today..
Scientific excavations of the Karnak Temple did not begin until 1884. The expedition was led by Professor Gaston Maspero of the Sorbonne in Paris. Several generations of archaeologists were engaged in the clearing of ancient structures, the main work continued here until 1960
.Alley of the Sphinxes
In 1949, young Egyptian archaeologist Mohammed Zakaria Ghoneim discovered 17 sphinx statues underground at the entrance to the Karnak Temple. The sculptures were placed along the ceremonial road leading to another ancient shrine, the Luxor Temple. The figures with ram heads and lion bodies (the image of the god Amon) were buried deep in the sand.
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It is established that the temple avenue was decorated with statues for about 1000 years. The first statues were carved around the 13th century BC, and the Alley of Sphinxes was completed by the pharaoh of the 30th dynasty Nektaneb (380-362 BC). By 2020, 1,057 statues resting on pedestals had already been freed from the ground. Many of them were broken.
.Restorers spent several decades restoring the stone beasts. Among the sphinxes, there were also figures with lion heads, but most had human heads, probably sculpted portraits of the pharaohs. On November 25, 2021, the restored Alley of the Sphinxes was officially opened. Celebrations were held here to commemorate the ancient Egyptian festival of Opet. A bright ceremony with fireworks, concerts, costumed performances gathered tens of thousands of tourists. Hotels in Luxor overflowed with travelers. Egypt’s Department of Antiquities announced that the revived festival with a 3,300-year history will be held annually in the city.
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Walking around the Karnak Temple
The Karnak temple complex covers about 120 hectares. It is an authentic city, and leisurely touring all of its structures in one day is simply not possible. A good option is to go to Luxor in the company of a guide. He will be able to lead to the most interesting monuments and will tell about the dramatic and amazing stories associated with them.
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The architectural ensemble back in ancient times was divided into three locations. In the center is the temple of Amon-Ra and other buildings spread over 28 hectares. The main objects of the tour are located here.
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Behind the second pylon is the Great Hypostyle Hall, considered one of the wonders of ancient Egypt. Here a whole forest of 124 columns with a diameter of 3 meters is erected. The columns are decorated with reliefs, drawings, on some of them the authentic paint has been preserved. On capitals in the form of lotus buds lie stone floor beams weighing up to 60 tons.
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In the heart of the temple complex stands another monument presented to the temple by the queen – 28-meter granite obelisk of Hatshepsut. The weight of the stone monolith reaches 300 tons. On the ground lie the wreckage of another obelisk that collapsed in the earthquake.
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A large rectangular pool, the Sacred Lake, has been restored and filled with water. Here the priests performed purificatory ablutions before entering under the vaults of the sanctuaries. In the evenings, a light and music costume show is held on the lake. Tourists watch the performances from a specially arranged spectator area.
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Practical information
If you are staying at one of the hotels in Luxor, it is better to hire a guide with a car right at the hotel. A 3-hour tour will cost about $50, with tickets to all locations included. If you go on your own, it is worth using the services of local guides. They are waiting for tourists at the entrance to the temple complex. But here about the price of accompaniment will have to be negotiated individually.
Where to eat
About 300 meters west of the entrance to the Karnak Temple is Cafe Luxor. The cafe serves hot Arabic food, strong black coffee, flavored tea, and desserts. The tables are set on the sun-covered terrace overlooking the Nile. Prices in the institution correspond to the influx of tourists, you can dine here for about $ 20.
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Other nearby restaurants and cafeterias are a short walk along the riverfront. The closest to the south is YuShanFang Royal Chinese restaurant. The cost of main dishes is 8-15$. The establishment is open from 10:00 to 19:00.
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The Karnak Temple is a 15-minute drive from Luxor International Airport, near highway 75. Shuttle buses run from the train station to the Karnak monuments. From the train station, you can reach the landmark on foot. The walk takes 40 minutes.
.A very romantic option is to take a ride from the center of Luxor to the entrance to the Karnak complex on an ancient phaeton, harnessed to a frisky horse. Such vehicles are waiting for tourists in all city squares. The cost of the ride should be negotiated with the coachman.
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