- On October 7, 2023
- In Places to visit
- Tags: aswan, aswanegypt, egypt, hotel, luxor, luxury, The Luxor Temple, Tourist, travel
Luxor Temple, which includes three civilizations
The Luxor Temple
The ancient Egyptians called the Luxor Temple “Ebet Reset,” meaning “Southern Sanctuary,” because of its location inside ancient Thebes (currently Luxor). The temple is located about three kilometers to the south of the Karnak Temple, which was once connected by a path bordered on either side by statues of the Sphinx and the ram-headed sphinx. The oldest evidence of this temple dates back to the Eighteenth Dynasty (ca. 1550 – 1295 BC).
The Luxor Temple was not like most other ancient Egyptian temples on an east-west axis, but it was directed towards Karnak. This is because the Luxor Temple was the main place for one of the most important ancient Egyptian religious ceremonies when statues of the deities Amun, his wife Mut, and their son, the moon god Khonsu, were transported from Their temples at Karnak in a solemn procession to the Luxor Temple so that they can visit the deity residing there, Amun im Opet, a celebration known as the Feast of Opet.
Luxor Temple was not built by a single king. Its oldest building was a shrine dating back to the reign of Queen Hatshepsut (about 1473-1458 BC), while the heart of the temple was built during the reign of Amenhotep III (about 1390-1353 BC). One of the inner rooms contains a group of scenes known as divine birth scenes, which tell us the story of the king’s lineage to the god Amun-Ra himself. The heart of the temple is preceded by a hypostyle hall, in front of which is a courtyard surrounded by columns. Amenhotep III also made the Corridor of the Chiefs, which consisted of two rows, each row containing seven chiefs. It was decorated with scenes of the Feast of Opet, which was completed during the reign of Kings Tutankhamun (about 1336-1327 BC) and Horemheb (about 1323-1295 BC).
As for Ramesses II (ca. 1279-1213 BC), he built many additions to the temple. In front of the Corridor of the Saints, he built a hypostyle hall and a large edifice consisting of two wings representing the entrance to the temple. In addition to a group of huge statues, the edifice included a pair of obelisks 25 meters high. Only one remains, while the other was moved to Place de la Concorde in Paris in 1836 AD.
In the late 3rd century AD, the Romans built a military barracks around the temple. The original wall reliefs were covered in plaster, and other scenes painted in the Greco-Roman artistic style depicted the Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) and three of his governors, although these drawings have been It has largely disappeared, but efforts are underway to restore it to its former glory.
Visiting the Luxor Temple 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.
