Luxor Temple is situated on the east bank of the Nile and is connected to Karnak, 2 miles away by an avenue of sphinxes, although most of these are now buried within Luxor town itself.
The temple was dedicated to the cult of Amun, in his fertility aspect, his wife Mut and his son Khonsu. The main purpose of the temple was for the celebrations of the festival of Opet when the statues of the gods were taken in procession by river from Karnak then after the celebrations were returned along the avenue of sphinxes back to Karnak. Once at the temple, the king and his priests entered the back chambers where the king and his Ka were merged with the king being transformed into a divine being. This ritual made the king into a god and the festival solidified his rule.
The
temple was built mainly by 2 kings, firstly the inner part by Amenhotep III
and the outer part was added to by Rameses II. Originally two red granite obelisks
stood outside the first pylon and 6 colossal statues of Rameses II. Now only
one obelisk is left, the other being in the "Place de la Concorde",
in Paris.
Only 2 seated statues of Rameses remain but there is however a giant pink granite model of his head as well.
In the outer court is the chapel of Sarapis, which was built by Hadrian and contains a statue of Isis
The pylon and courtyard beyond were built by Rameses II and is out of alignment
with the pre-existing temple. This was thought to be to bring it to the same
axis as the processional way leading to Karnak or it could have been to avoid
a small shrine built during the reign of Tuthmosis III and Hatshepsut.
The first pylon opens on to the peristyle court which is surrounded by 2 rows of papyrus bud columns and in the north east corner is the shrine of Tuthmoses III and Hatshepsut which consists of three deep shrines, for the barques of Amun, Mut and Khonsu.
On the outer walls of this courtyard are carvings depicting Rameses II's campaigns against the Hitites.
Above the eastern colonnade is the Mosque of Abu-el Hagag which was built in the 19th century on top of the debris covering the temple, which was unearthed in 1855.
At the other end of the court there are numerous statues of Rameses II accompanied by smaller representations of Nefertari between the columns.
The entrance to the Great Colonnade of Amenhotep III is guarded by two colossal statues of Rameses II with Nefertari embracing his lower leg, and the defeated enemies depicted under his feet.
The colonnade is flanked by 14 huge columns with open papyrus capitals. The inner walls show carvings of the Opet festival with the sacred boats being carried by priests accompanied by musicians and soldiers carrying banners. Other boats are shown in the water and Nubian dancers and acrobats entertain the crowd, and two chariots are led by their grooms. King Tutankhamun is shown making offerings to the gods. On the east wall the gods are shown returning to Karnak.
It was during recent repairs and renovations to the columns that a cache of several complete statues were found and these are now on display in the Luxor museum.
At the southern end of the processional way would have been a pylon but now it leads directly into the court of Amenhotep III, which is surrounded by a double row of columns with papyrus bud capitals on three sides and would originally have been roofed over.
During the Roman period however (30BC -AD337) The temple became a shrine to the Imperial cult and the reliefs of Amenhotep III were plastered over and repainted with Roman figures and have these have recently been restored.
Behind the court is the Hypostyle Hall with its 32 papyrus bud columns and the east wall shows Amenhotep III making offerings to Amun, Mut and Khonsu. The main sanctuary was redesigned by Alexander the great and he is shown making offerings in the traditional manner of the Pharaohs.
Behind the sacred shrine there is a suite of rooms, which represent the bedroom of the god and was where the secret rituals of the Opet festival took place. Reliefs in the birth room show the impregnation of Amenhotep's mother, Queen Mutemwiya by the god Amun, while the ram-headded god Khnum forms the child on his potter's wheel. The queen is taken to the birth room by Khnum and Hathor, the child is born and presented to Amun. The last scene shows Amenhotep as an adult blessed by the gods and confirmed in his role as sun god.
Behind the birth room was the barque chapel, originally built by Amenhotep III and later converted to a shrine by Alexander the Great dedicated to Amun as the god of fertility. Carved on the wall is the image of the fertility god Min.
In the photograph, it can be seen where the wall is worn smooth from repeated hands touching the god's phallus. The belief was that by touching this carving, a woman would become fertile and conceive.
When
Amenhotep made the rear section of the sanctuary it was accessible through a
side doorway and was divided into two parts. This was to make the front accessible
for the public and the back part was reserved for the priests and the barque
shrine. Behind this was the hall of the offering table with twelve pillars representing
the hours of the day and was referred to as the hall of the hours. Beyond the
twelve columned hall is the holy of holies, containing the base of the block
which once supported the god's image, a large seated statue of Amun. Around
this room were several more secluded chambers which gave the temple its name
of Opet or "harem", in these are niches that contained statues of
the gods. This part of the temple stood on a mound, which was thought to represent
the primordial mound, the original site of the creation.
