Karnak Temples attract hundreds of tourists daily

 Karnak Temple Complex 

It is a wonderful complex of beautiful, unparalleled temples. Karnak includes the temples of the god Amun, his wife, the goddess Mut, and her son, the god Khonsu.
The construction of the temple began during the Middle Kingdom (around 2000 BC). During the era of the New Kingdom, to which King Tutankhamun and King Ramesses II belonged, a luxurious temple befitting the greatness of the huge Egyptian Empire was built on the ruins of this temple.
Each king added something new to the temple… out of closeness to the gods, a desire for immortality, and to obtain great fame among the people.

1- The Great Temple of Amun Ra

The temple consists of a mihrab located on the far eastern side. This niche was prepared to store statues of the god Amun and his family. This place is known as the “Holy of Holies,” which was surrounded by darkness! It is then followed by an open courtyard bathed in daylight, and then this courtyard ends with a great edifice, the entrance located between its two towers.

The group of buildings in this temple was numerous, and it took a final shape similar to the letter T in the English language, but it is placed diagonally on one of its sides. This letter is defined by ten edifices, and it also contains a number of courtyards. In front of the temple there is a large square, and in it we see a raised platform in the middle, which was once a berth for the temple’s ships, as the Nile used to flow near it in the past.

King Seti I erected two obelisks on it, one of which still remains in its place, and from it extends to the facade of the edifice two rows of statues erected by Ramesses II in the form of a sphinx, each with the head of a ram and the body of a lion. It is noted that under the chin of each of them is a statue of the king himself. This road is what they call “the road of rams.”

2- The temple of Amun

It is a spacious courtyard with a row of columns in the shape of papyrus plants on both sides. (In the past, in the middle was the “Taharqa Gosq”, which consisted of ten graceful columns erected by King “Taharqa” of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty, and one of the columns is still standing in its place.)

There are also three compartments in the northwestern corner of this courtyard, prepared to house the sacred ships of the Theban Triad, built by King Seti I of the Nineteenth Dynasty. The walls of these compartments were decorated with reliefs representing the sacred ships.

3 – Temple of “Ramses III” in Karnak

It was built by Ramesses III to house the sacred ships, and this temple is considered a model of a complete Egyptian temple. It begins with a great edifice decorated on the outside by two magnificent statues of the king. From the inside, it is followed by the open courtyard, which is bordered by gates (plural weeping) to the east and west. The king appears on the columns in the form of Osiris.

The walls are decorated with inscriptions that represent the king in different positions before the “god Amun.” Then there is a vestibule with two rows of columns. The first of these consists of columns to which are attached “Osirian” statues in the style of courtyard statues, and the second row consists of four columns in the form of a plant. papyrus. This vestibule leads us to the hypostyle hall, which in turn leads to the three chambers for housing the sacred ships of the Theban Triad. Next to it there are several dark rooms that were used for worship purposes.

There were two great statues decorating the facade of this edifice of King Ramesses II standing. Only the right statue remains, and next to that edifice is the hall of columns, in which the image of the sophistication and grandeur that architecture has reached in our Egyptian country is evident. It is like a forest of columns representing the papyrus plant, and it covers an area of land amounting to six thousand square meters.

It contains 134 columns, each of which is 3.37 meters in diameter, and the height of the side columns is 13 meters, while the height of the middle columns is about 21 meters, and the columns are all in the shape of papyrus stems. The high columns are topped with capitals shaped like blooming papyrus flowers. It was said about the size of the crown that it can accommodate more than ten people standing on top of it! As for the short columns, their capitals also resemble the closed buds of papyrus flowers.

This hall was roofed with huge blocks of stones. Some of them are still in place. As for the inscriptions on these columns, and on the walls behind them, they are extremely magnificent and beautiful. Some of its colors are still bright, and it represents King Seti and his son, Ramesses II, offering sacrifices to the various gods. As for the scenes engraved on the walls of this lobby from the outside – and they can be reached by exiting from one of the side doors – they are pictures representing both King Seti and his son Ramesses II in their various wars with Egypt’s enemies, the Hittites and the Libyans.

4 – Temple of Khonsu

It was built by King Ramesses III, the second king of the Twentieth Dynasty, in the year 1198 BC. Then his son Ramesses IV added to it after him, then Ramesses M., the last king of the Twentieth Dynasty. This temple consists of a edifice engraved by the priest “Bi Najm”, who is considered the eighth king of the Twenty-first Dynasty. It is followed by a courtyard with columns in the shape of papyrus, and their capitals are also in the shape of papyrus flower buds. This is followed by a vestibule with twelve columns leading to the hypostyle hall, on whose walls appear inscriptions from the era of “Ramses XI,” the tenth king of the Twentieth Dynasty, and “Herihor,” who was As his guardian. Finally, we reach the cabin of the sacred boats of Khonsu, and the dark niches around it. As a whole, it constitutes the “mihrab”, or “the Holy of Holies”, and contains inscriptions and scenes from the era of “Ramses IV”. Behind the “mihrab” stands a small courtyard with four columns, and connected to it are seven small rooms from the era of “Ramesses III” and “IV”. respectively. The colors of the scenes in the two rooms to the right are still bright today. The next room was designated for them to worship Osiris, whom we see lying on his bed, with Isis and Nephthys weeping over him next to him.

Visiting the Karnak Temple Complex offers a glimpse into the rich history of ancient Egypt and the efforts made to preserve its cultural heritage in the face of modern development.

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