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The Karnak Temple
The
Temple of Karnak is the largest Temple in
the World! The complex contains a group of
Temples such as the Great Temple of Amon Ra,
The Temple of Khonso, The Ipt Temple, The
Temple of Ptah, the Temple of Montho and the
Temple of the God Osiris. A 20m high, mud
brick enclosure wall, surrounded all of
these buildings.
This great Temple of Amon Ra was known
during the Middle Kingdom period as Ipt-Swt,
which means the Selected Spot. It was also
called Pr-Imn, which means the House of
Amon. The name Al-Karnak in Arabic was
derived from Karnak, which means fortified
village, probably because the Arabs found
many Temples and buildings in the area when
they entered it for first time.
On your way towards the entrance you will
find a ram-headed avenue of Sphinxes, which
was built to protect the Temple. There are
20 rams on each side, extending from the
small harbour to the 1st Pylon, which was
built during the time of King Nektanebo I
(30th Dynasty). As you cross this pylon, it
takes you into an Open court, whose
dimensions are100m long by 80m wide, built
during the 22nd Dynasty, and containing rows
of bud papyrus columns.
In the middle of the 1st Open court, there
is a huge column, which is 21m high and has
a bud papyrus capital. This part is known as
the kiosk of Taharqa who ruled during the
25th Dynasty. This is the only column left
from a colonnade that once had 10 columns.
On the left side of this Court there are 3
chapels, which were built by King Seti II
for the “Triad of Thebes”. On the right side
is the Temple of Ramses III. This Temple
consists of a small pylon, an open court and
Hypostyle hall, leading to the sanctuary.
Horemheb built the 2nd Pylon during the 18th
Dynasty, though it is now badly damaged.
Ramses I, the founder of the 19th Dynasty,
later completed it. Passing the 2nd Pylon,
we enter the Great Hypostyle Hall, which
measures 103m in length and 52m in width. It
contains 134 papyrus columns; each column is
about 22m in height and 3.5m in diameter.
Amenhotep III built it and Ramses I, Seti I,
and Ramses II decorated it, while King Seti
I erected the other 122 columns in 14 rows.
The ceiling in the centre is higher than the
laterals, and it allows light into this
spot, which was the processional avenue of
the Triad during the festival of the Opet.
The scenes of the Hypostyle Hall represent
King Seti I, in front of different deities,
making offerings, while the southern wall is
decorated with scenes of Ramses II, making
offerings to the different deities or
worshipping the Triad of Thebes.
The Hypostyle Hall leads to The 3rd Pylon,
which was built by Amenhotep III. It is
remarkable that stones from previous periods
were found incrusted in that Pylon, for
example, the marble alabaster of Amenhotep
I!
Crossing the 3rd Pylon, you come to an open,
rectangular court, which is known as the
Court of Tuthmosis I. In this court,
Tuthmosis I erected 2 obelisks, as most
probably this area was the main entrance of
the Temple during his reign. Unfortunately,
only one obelisk has survived: 19m high and
around 310 tons in weight.
From the Court of Tuthmosis, we reach the
4th Pylon, which Tuthmosis I also built;
beyond this is a rectangular colonnade,
which he built as well. When Hatshepsut
ascended to the throne she built 2 obelisks
in that colonnade, the left one is still in
its original position: 29.5m in height, 322
tons in weight and made of red granite!
After the death of Queen Hatshepsut, King
Tuthmoses III built a high, long wall around
these 2 obelisks to hide them.
The 5th Pylon, yet again built by Tuthmosis
I, is damaged and on both sides of the
entrance,Tuthmosis III built two small
rooms.
We are now at the 6th Pylon, which was built
by Tuthmosis III. Beyond this pylon Tuthmosis
III built his famous hall, which
is known as the Ancestral Room. The original
Sanctuary was built by Tuthmosis III, but
Philip Arrhidaeus, the half brother of
Alexander the Great, later rebuilt it.
The sanctuary was built of granite, and it
was dedicated to the sacred boat of Amon Ra.
Behind the sanctuary you will see a court,
dating back to the time of the Middle
Kingdom. It is a wide-open courtyard that is
badly damaged now. Most probably this spot
was the site of an old Temple, dating back
to the time of the Middle Kingdom: the
origin of the Karnak Temple.
Click on the
thumbnails to enlarge
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At the end
of the Middle Kingdom Courtyard, there is
another Hall known as the Akh-Mnw, or the
Festival Hall of Tuthmosis III. The hall in
the north of the area is called The
Botanical Room. This is because the walls
were decorated with scenes of plants,
animals and birds, which were brought from
Syria, to Egypt, by the King.
Now we shall go back through the temple
until we reach the Court of Tuthmosis 1
again (between the 4th and 3rd Pylons).
Turning left, we enter a courtyard, which is
in front of the 7th Pylon. In 1902, the
French Egyptologist Georges Legrain
(1865–1917) discovered a very precious
collection of statues hidden in the ground
of this court, which is now known as the
Court of the Cashet. The 7th Pylon, which is
badly damaged, was built by Tuthmosis III.
Crossing the 7th Pylon to the court beyond,
you will see 2 statues of Ramses II and
Tuthmosis III.
The 8th Pylon was built by Hatshepsut,
decorated by Tuthmosis III, and restored by Seti I. The scenes on the façade of the
Pylon represent Hatshepsut with different
deities, and a religious scene featuring
Tuthmosis III.
On the left side of the Court, between the
9th and 10th Pylons, are the remains of the
Heb-Sed Shrine, which was built by Amenhotep
II and decorated by Seti I.
The 9th Pylon, which was built by Horemheb,
is badly damaged. A large number of bricks
were found inside, which were being used as
filling. They belonged to the Aton Temple,
which was built by Amenhotep VI (Akhenaten)
in the 18th Dynasty and destroyed by later
Kings who wanted to eliminate all traces of
the “heretic” King.
Finally we reach the 10th Pylon, damaged as
well, and again built by King Horemheb. In
front of this Pylon there are the remains of
an avenue of Sphinxes, built by Horemheb,
and extending to the gate of Ptolemy II in
front of Mut Temple.
Before leaving the Temple of Amon Ra at
Karnak you should visit the Sacred Lake,
which goes back to the time of Tuthmosis
III. It measures 80m in length and 40m in
width. Near the Sacred Lake there is a
scarab, which is considered the biggest
scarab left from Ancient Egypt, dating from
the reign of Amenhotep III. The Ancient
Egyptians called the scarab, Khebry, and it
was the symbol of the Sun God. The word
itself means to create; it was thought to
bring to the sun in the early morning.
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