The Karnak Temple Complex ( temple of Amun Re, the temple of Mut, Temple of Khonsu), known worldwide as Karnak, is an enormous collection of temple ruins, chapel spaces, colossal columns, and other buildings. It is located 3 km north of Luxor downtown in Egypt. Its name in ancient Egyptian was Ipet-isut (“the most chosen place”), and it is the main place of worship for the Theban Triad, of which Amun was its head, in the city of Thebes, which is full of monuments. The complex takes its current name from the nearby village it surrounds, which is the village of Karnak.
It is considered one of Luxor’s distinctive landmarks, as each of the successive kings tried to make his temple the most magnificent. To distinguish it from its predecessors, the Karnak temples were thus transformed into a complete guide and collection showing the stages of development of ancient Egyptian art and distinctive Pharaonic architecture.
The name is derived from the Persian word “Khornaq,” which was given to a luxurious palace of Al-Numan bin Al-Mundhir, one of the prominent Arab figures before Islam. The Karnak Temples are a rich record of the history and civilization of ancient Egypt and a radiant cultural center for a period of up to two thousand years.
Karnak Temple is the greatest building ever built for worshiping gods and is located on an area of two hundred acres. It includes many facilities and temples, including the great “Temple of Amun Ra“, the temples of “Ptah, Montu,the temple of Khonsu and Aten“, in addition to the temples of the goddesses Mut and Abet. Most of these chapels are surrounded by a thick mud-brick enclosure wall with eight gates and were erected by king Nechtanebos of the Thirty Dynasty.
The first thing in this temple is the anchorage: it is a raised platform with a square base for the sacred boat that connected the anchorage to the Nile. The facade of the temple is represented by the first edifice, which dates back to the reign of King Naqtanbo I of the Thirtieth Dynasty.
Is a road that connected the Karnak and Luxor temples over a distance of up to three kilometers in length. It is known as (Ta-Mit-Rahant), which is translated as the Way of the Rams. Along the road, which is 2,700 km long and 76 m wide, there are 1,200 statues.
These statues were made from a single block of sandstone has a cornice on which the king’s name, titles, and praises are engraved. It is placed on the base of the stone, consisting of four courses of stone used due to the presence of some inscriptions. It may be erected in two forms:
The first: It takes the shape of the body of a lion and the head of a human (the Sphinx).
Second: It takes the shape of a ram’s body.
It is built of sandstone and has two towers. In the middle of the two towers is an entrance with a gate 26 meters high. This temple has an open courtyard, which is the ceremonial courtyard, with an area of eight thousand square metres. It dates back to the era of the Twenty-Second Dynasty, and its front and sea sides are decorated with porticoes carried by round columns whose capitals are in the form of papyrus buds.
It is located on the southern side of the courtyard. It was built by King Ramesses III to rest the sacred boats. It is 52 meters long. It is topped by a pylon with two statues of the king in front of it. Ramses III built another important temple in Karnak named as the temple of Khonsu
the Hypostyle Hall is considered one of the wonders of antiquity and the most distinctive and attractive landmark in the Karnak Temple. It is located between the second and third towers,
It contains 12 thick and long columns, with the height of each column reaching 24 meters, and a plate rests on these columns. Centrally, it allows air and light to enter the Hypostyle Hall.
The Hypostyle Hall also has seven side aisles containing columns of up to 134 columns.
it is also distinguished by its external beauty, as its walls bear historical inscriptions that express the various victories in Palestine of Seti and Ramses II
The Hypostyle Hall covers an area of 4900 square meters
It is a single block of red granite stone, with a quadrilateral cross-section, its sides slanting inward starting from its square base so that its apex ends in a pointed pyramid. It was covered with metal sheets, and its sides were decorated with hieroglyphic writing that included the titles and names of those who resided in it, and it is a symbol of the sun god Ra.
Obelisks are an important part of the urban fabric of Karnak. The kings of the modern Egyptian state erected obelisks in many areas in the Karnak Temple in particular and in Egypt in general, but only a few of them remained, as most of them were transferred to Italy, France, the United States, Constantinople, and England, and only two obelisks remained in their place in Karnak. One of them belongs to Tuthmosis I and the other belongs to Hatshepsut.
A special gate to one of the Karnak gates, as it is the southern gate before it is the Temple of Atum the sacred lake is called Shes Jisr. There are 6 sacred lakes in ancient Egypt, including one in Edfu. Its importance is the purification and breeding of some birds: (ducks, geese) Priests used to wash themselves before performing religious ceremonies or national celebrations in which the gods attended. Its water is stagnant water, and it was fed by a canal from the Nile River.
This is one of the proofs of the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptian engineer during the reign of Tuthmosis III.
It is considered the most important part of the temple, and it is the “deity’s chamber” known as “the throne,” which is the name of the king’s throne where rituals of worship and offerings are offered to the god; it is the statue of the deity placed inside the Naos.
The ancient Egyptian considered the statue of the deity in the Holy of Holies “a greater secret than the private secrets found within the heavens; a greater secret than the secrets of the other world; and more hidden than the inhabitants of the eternal world.
” Daily service was provided in the temple, and the ancient Egyptian did not believe that the statue was a deity. But he believed that through certain rituals, the spirit of the deity was embodied in his statue. The temple often includes shrines according to the number of gods and goddesses who worship in it, and the shrines were often three for the Holy Trinity in the temple.
The wanderer’s name is derived from the verb “khans” (xns), meaning (to cross), due to the moon crossing the sky. It is a verb known to us from the “Pyramid Texts” in the paragraphs that refer to the moon crossing the sky.
Khonsu was worshiped at Karnak in his beautiful temple, which is a complete model of an ancient Egyptian temple. Its construction began by King Ramesses III.
Khonsu usually appears as a child or young man, wearing a side lock of hair on his head.
Karnak Temple is open daily from 7 am to 5 pm and features enchanting sound and light shows that take place every evening, which is a great way to discover Karnak Temple.
