Karnak on the east bank at Thebes, now modern Luxor was in fact once a city built around several temples dedicated to various Gods, the main one being Amun.
The Temple is approached from the west, which in Rameses II'S time was a quay linked to the Nile and lined by an Avenue of Ram Headed Sphinx, which symbolise the God Amun, each holding a statue of the king protectively between its paws.
The entrance pylon is unfinished but originally stood 40 meters high and was thought to have been built in the 30th Dynasty by Nectanebo I.
On the inside of the pylon can be seen a mud-brick ramp that was originally used in the construction of the wall.
Once inside the pylons, the courtyard encloses an area which was once outside the temple, inside which are more, smaller temples.
To the left of the court is the granite and sandstone triple barque chapel of Seti II. This contains three chambers for the barques of (from left to right) Mut, Amun and Khonsu, Mut being the wife of Amun and Khonsu their son.
Opposite
the barque chapel is a sphinx with the head of Tutankhamun.
In
the centre of this courtyard is the remains of the kiosk of Taharqua, which
originally consisted of ten huge papyrus columns linked by a low screening wall
and open at its east and west ends
To
the right of the entrance is a small temple built by Rameses III and was a miniature
version of his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu. The temple is fronted by statues
of Rameses II depicted as Osiris and inside is decorated with various festival
scenes and texts.
Just
before the second pylon were two massive statues of Rameses II but only the
feet of one remains. In front of these is a statue of Rameses II with a smaller
figure of his Queen Nefertari standing between his feet.
The second pylon, begun in the reign of Horemheb and completed by Seti I, opens
into the famous hypostyle hall. There is a total of 134 papyrus columns, the
centre twelve measuring about 21 meters and the outer ones measuring 15 meters.
The bases of these columns are so wide that 10 people can stand arms outstretched,
hand in hand around them.
At
one time the columns supported a roof with small clerestory windows, which would
have provided light for the interior.
Just
inside the hypostyle hall there is a slab of carved alabaster, which is a sample
of that which covered the whole of the floor of the temple in Pharonic times.
The
interior walls are decorated with scenes of military exploits, including Rameses
II's famous Battle of Kadesh. The carvings initiated by Rameses II are of bas
relief and were made very deep so that they would last. Some are as deep as
a man's hand.
The third pylon was started by Amenhotep III and beyond this is the Obelisk Court, where originally were four obelisks erected by Tuthmosis I and III, before the entrance to the original temple, but now only one of Thutmoses I obelisks remains. This is also where the second axis of the temple branches off to the south.
Continuing to the east are the fourth and fifth pylons constructed by Tuthmosis I, and it is here that the one remaining standing obelisk of Hatshepsut is situated. When Tuthmosis II came to the throne, he built a wall around Hatshepsut's obelisk to obscure it from view and the difference in colour of the hidden lower part can still be seen.
There is very little left of the sixth pylon, built by Tuthmoses III, but in the court there are two massive granite pillars facing each other with the floral emblems of upper and lower Egypt, the lotus and the papyrus.
On the north side are two large statues of Amun and Amaunet.
This
court leads to the granite barque shrine built by Alexander the Great's successor
Arrhidaeus. Here there is still the pedestal where the barque would have rested.
The chambers surrounding the shrine were built by Hatshepsut but the walls were
built by Thutmoses III.
Beyond the central court is the relatively complete Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III, in which he named "Most Splendid of Monuments". The roof is supported by square pillars. During the Coptic and Muslim invasions the building was reused as a church and the original paintings and statues were defaced to look more Christian.
Towards
the rear gate were several more, now ruined small temples and turning back towards
the south is the sacred lake, which supplied the water for the priests sacred
duties
On the northwest corner of the lake is the chapel of Taharqua, which has underground chambers containing descriptions of the sun god's nightly journey through the underworld and rebirth each day as a scarab beetle. At the end of the lake is a large statue of a scarab beetle, which was brought here from the mortuary temple of Amenhotep III.
Also at this end of the sacred lake can be seen the top part of Hatshepsut's obelisk, beyond which is the seventh pylon, built by Tuthmosis III.
The side walls of this pylon were decorated by Mereneptah, the son of Rameses II and the courtyard is known as the "Courtyard of the Cachette"as 20,000 statues and stelae were found here in 1904.
The remaining pylons were the eighth, built by Hatshepsut, and the ninth and tenth by Horemheb, who used the stone from the temples of Akhenaten.
As we return to the Great Hypostyle Court, to the north is the open air museum. Here, the red temple of Hatshepsut has been rebuilt as well as the barque chapel of Sensuret I and shrine of Amenhotep I and II.
Within the open air museum can be seen many more statues and stone blocks from various parts of the complex.
