Dec 11 - Across the river to see the temples on the east bank. We take a boat that leaves us on the rocky shore, just below the expansive plaza in front of Karnak Temple. Karnak is a sprawling complex of shines, pylons, obelisks, and temples, started in about 2000 BCE (Middle Kingdom) and continued to be used in some form until about 100 CE (Roman Empire). It was the habit of successive pharaohs to add or modify structures to suit their own deity preferences and personal cults (deification upon their deaths), occasionally dismantling previous construction. The result is a surprisingly cohesive monument, though with some odd attachments and bits that were never completed.
The main entrance to Karnak is from the west, which points toward the Nile. The large wall seen is called a pylon, and is essentially a grand entryway on which the pharaoh constructing it placed their kingly propaganda. The one shown, however, known as Pylon 1, was never fully completed, as it is undecorated with rough block surfaces. It was made by Nectanebo (r. 380-362 BCE), only a half century before the Macedonian army would visit Egypt.
Details of the statues placed along the ‘Avenue of Sphinxes’ that connected Karnak with the Nile, and also lined the route from Karnak to Luxor temple. Some of them are also visible in the first photo. There were three types of sphinxes: the above examples are the Ram type.
In the Great Hypostyle Hall, just east of the Second Pylon. There are several pharaohs who added bits and pieces here, but the main construction was done by Seti I (r. 1294-1271 BCE, 19th Dynasty). It has taken awhile to determine the original builder, as successive pharaohs put their own name in many places around the hall (especially members of the Ramses family).
A view toward the tops of the columns in the Great Hypostyle Hall. The tops are meant to look like lotus flowers.
The top of an obelisk erected by Hatshepsut. It was only set upright again this year,
A view east toward the main complex.
The Sacred Lake. This was constructed by Thutmosis III (r. 1473-1458 BCE). It was meant for bathing by royalty and for the purposes of religious rites.
The largest obelisk at Karnak, at a height of almost 22 meters, erected by Thutmosis I (r. about 1506-1493 BCE, 18th Dynasty). His reign was short, but the Egyptian Empire at this time was stable and flourishing.
Statue of Amenhotep II (r. about 1427-1401 BCE).
Statue of Thutmosis II (restored).
Entrance to the temple of Alexander the Great, who went many places in Egypt, assuring his immortality in the pantheon of Egyptian gods by erecting various structures in existing temples.
Festival Hall (Akh-menu) of Thutmosis III.
One of the columns in the Akh-menu.
The ‘Red Chapel’ of Hatshepsut (and Thutmosis III), erected when she was still ‘co-regent’. It was dismantled after her death, and her name was then chiseled out where it was visible on the jumble of blocks. When it was restored in 2007-2011, some of Hatshepsut’s images and cartouches appeared again, from blocks neglected by the historical revisionists.
The ‘White Chapel’ of Senusret (reign disputed, but in the 19th century BCE, 12th Dynasty). It is considerably older than a lot of the other structures. It was completely dismantled and used as fill for the 3rd Pylon of Amenhotep III, but restored in its entirety in the 20th century.
At the Temple of Ptah, a small building along the mud-brick retaining wall south of the Karnak complex. It was initially built by Thutmose III, but was expanded by later pharaohs and eventually by the Ptolemies and Romans.
A view of the Karnak complex from the roof of the Temple of Ptah, where I guess I was not supposed to be standing.
Our first sighting of an African hoopoe.
Odette driving the boat that took us from Karnak upriver to the Luxor Temple complex.
Disembark at Luxor Temple, which has its long axis aligned along the riverbank. We go to eat first and then enter the temple grounds. Luxor was not built with the same intent as Karnak: instead it was a place for the real, or symbolic, crowning of the pharaoh when they took power. It was originally connected to Karnak by the Avenue of Sphinxes mentioned earlier, a distance of 2.7 km.
A view of Luxor Temple from the east, with the Nile behind it.
The imposing front pylon of Luxor, constructed by Ramses II, with two statues of him flanking the entrance.
Facing the opposite direction, toward the south, is the 2.7 km long Avenue of Sphinxes,
Inside the court of Ramses II.
The statues of Ramses II are distinctive for showing an aspect of power. Here he sports a postiche, or angular false beard, instead of the curled one seen on Tutankhamun’s famous funerary mask.
Covering a portion of the Ramses II courtyard is the Abu Al-Haggag Mosque (640 CE), earlier a Coptic church (395 CE), making this corner a spot of continuous worship of some god or the other for a period of about 3400 years.
Court of Amenhotep III. Hard to see in the photo but the names in the cartouches have been mostly chiseled out (most clearly visible at the right and left end columns). What has been erased is the ‘Amen’ part of that pharaoh’s name. This action was taken by his son, Akhenaten, who had a real problem with the cult of the god Amun, and tried to destroy all of his temples and occurrences of his name.
In the open air museum there are many pieces that have unknown origins in the temple complex. Above is the name of Thutmose IV: his birth name is on the left, and to the right his throne name.
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)
/w=3840,quality=90,fit=scale-down)