Dominating the banks of the Nile in the centre of town, Luxor Temple is an elegant example of Pharonic temple architecture. Dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu, the temple was largely completed by the 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep III and added to during the reign of Ramses II in the 19th Dynasty. Although the temple was further modified by later rulers, including Alexander the Great, it design remained strikingly coherent in contrast to the sprawling complex that developed at nearby Karnack. In the 3rd century AD the temple was occupied by a Roman camp and the site was subsequently abandoned.
Over the centuries it was engulfed in sand and silt, and a village grew up within the temple walls. Then in 1881 archaeologist Gaston Maspero rediscovered the temple in remarkably good condition, but before excavation work could begin the hillage had to be removed. Only the Abu al-Haggag Mosque Below), built by the Arabs in the 13th century, was left intact, standing high on the layers of silt accumulated of the years.
The temple is approached by an avenue of sphinxes (Left) which once stretched all the way from Luxor to Karnack, almost 2 km away. Fronting the entrance to the temple, the gigantic first pylon is decorated with scenes of Ramses II's victory over the Hittites in the battle of Qadesh. Two enormous seated colossi of Ramses and a huge 25 m high pink granite obelisk flank the gateway to the temple. The obelisk was originally one of a pair; the other was removed in the early 19th century and re-erected in the Palace de la Concorde in Paris, a gift from the Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali to the people of France. Beyond the first pylon lies the court of Ramses II, with the Abut al-Haggag Mosque towering incongruously over the courtyard to the east. The height of the mosque above the stone floor demonstrated the dept of debris that once buried the entire temple.
The western corner of he court incorporates an earlier barque shrine (to house the god's sacred boaters) dedicated to the Theban triad. A double row of papyrus-but columns encircles the court, interspersed with huge standing colossi of Ramses II. (Above Left)
More giant black granite statues of Ramses guard the entrance to the original part of the temple, which begins with the majestic colonnade of Amenhotep III, with its avenue of 14 columns. The walls here were embellished during the reign of Tutankhamun and depict the annual Opet festival, when the images of Amun, Mut and Khonsu were taken in procession from Karnak to Luxor. The western wall shows the outward journey to Luxor and the eastern wall the return journey to Karnack.
The colonnade leeds to the superb court of Amenhotep III, which is noted for its double rows of towering papyrus columns, the best preserved and most elegant in the temple (Above Left). In 1989, work here on the foundations of the court led to the discovery of 22 New Kingdom statues, now on display in the Luxor Museum.
The hypostyle hall on the southern side of the court served as a vestibule to the main temple (Below Right). It has 32 papyrus columns in four rows of eight, bearing the later cartouches of Ramses II, and Ramses IV, Ramses VI and Seti I.
The ante chamber beyond was converted into a church by the Romans in the 4th century AD, it pharonic reliefs being plastered over and covered with Christian paintings (Blow Left).
A second, smaller ante chamber, the offering chapel, leads on to another columned hall with the Sanctuary of the Sacred Barque in the centre. Rebuild by Alexander the Great, this granite shrine was where Amun's barque ended its journey from Karnack in the Opet festival. It is decorated with scenes of Alexander making offerings to the Theban triad. The birth room to the east has reliefs depicting the divine birth of Amenhotep III, intended to validate his claim to be the son of Amun. Finally, behind the Sanctuary of the sacred Barque, another halls leads to a small , damaged sanctuary that once housed a golden statue of Amun.
