Karnak Temple Luxor 2025 – Discover the Largest Temple Complex in Ancient Egypt:
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Karnak-Tempel
The area of the Karnak Temples is located in the Luxor Governorate in southern Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile. It is the largest temple complex ever built. It was constructed between 2055 BC and 100 AD. The ancient Egyptians called it Ipet Sut. It was an important center and developed over 1,500 years.
Karnak-Tempel
While generations of pharaoh-kings added temples and palaces with unprecedented decorations and inscriptions, its significance reached its peak during the New Kingdom era. The pharaohs Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Seti I, and Ramses II are among those who contributed major expansions to Karnak. The structure was built on an east-west axis and another north-south axis facing the Luxor Temple. In ancient times, it was surrounded by a massive mudbrick wall. Karnak is distinguished by the presence of the sacred lake. Excavations have shown that the site of the temple may date back to around 3400 BC, with the Montu Temple in the north and the temple for the death of Amun’s wife in the south, which is marked by the presence of the temple’s lake. The sanctuary, used by priests for purification, has the shape of a horseshoe. The two temples were probably built during the reign of King Amenhotep III, and between them lies the largest temple—the Temple of Amun-Ra in Karnak.
Karnak contains 10 massive structures or gates, with the buildings from the first to the sixth forming the main axis of the temple toward the Nile. The seventh and eighth pylons were built by Hatshepsut and Thutmose III, while the ninth and tenth pylons were erected during the reign of King Horemheb. The most important feature of the Karnak temple complex is the Great Hypostyle Hall, one of the wonders of the ancient world. It was built during the era of Seti I and Ramses II between the second and third pylons. It covers an area of about 5,000 square meters and contains 134 massive sandstone columns, including 12 columns that form the central axis of the hall, each about 24 meters in height. These columns, taller than the others, are an ingenious idea by the Egyptian engineer to provide lighting and ventilation through a unique system of its kind. The hall and the columns are decorated with refined carvings and painted with beautiful colors—which still survive to this day.
A restoration team from the Supreme Council of Antiquities worked to enhance and preserve the colors. Karnak is notable for a magnificent shrine from the Middle Kingdom—the White Chapel of Senusret I—which is characterized by the beauty, splendor, and precision of its carvings. Also notable is the Festival Hall (Akhmenu) built by Thutmose III, which is an illustrated catalog of the exotic animals and plants he brought back from his military campaigns in Asia during the 25th year of his reign.
The most important recent discoveries in front of the main building of Karnak include baths from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, as well as a stone harbor for ships arriving via the Nile to the temple, and the sanctuary of Osiris Ptah-nebankh, south of the tenth pylon and its annexes. It contains scenes of King Taharqa, the last king of the 25th Dynasty.
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