Karnak
When we arrived in Luxor we decided to take a guided tour of Karnak Temple
Complex which is just on the outskirts of town. Our guide was the lovely
Saleh who grew up in Karnak village, on top of the temple, before it was
excavated in the 1950's. He was a very well known and respected man. Everyone
came up to shake his hand or greet him during our tour!
The temple complex is amazingly huge and was constructed over 2000 years.
It was the main temple to the god Amun, who was revered by most of the
pharaohs. The famous boy king Tutankhamun took the god's name into his
own. Because of the god's status as the chief god, many of the pharaohs
built grand additions to the temple every time they had a victory or just
to please the god. It is difficult to point out which bits have been added
by whom as the additions continued even up to the 30th dynasty (the last
of the great Pharaohs).
There are huge obelisks built by Queen Hatshepsut, colossal statues and
many other additions by Ramesses II (Ramesses the great, of whom, incidentally,
Saleh claimed to be a descendant), statues of Tutmosis IV, Tutankhamun, Seti,
and lots and lots more. These were just some of the names that we can remember.
At the entrance stand two huge gates, the last addition to the temple built
during the 30th dynasty. A huge courtyard is past that where there are rows
of statues with rams heads and huge pillars and statues. This area was where
the people were allowed to come and worship. Behind one of the gates is a
large ramp made of mud bricks which egyptologists say were used during the
construction of the temple. Some people say that this is also the method
that was used to build the pyramids.
Then through another set of gates is a magnificent hall, the Hypostile Hall,
a forest of pillars in the middle of the temple before the inner sanctuary.
Only the king and his high officials and the priests could enter this
section. In it's day it must have been incredible as even today it stands
tall and imposing.
There are many other interesting parts to the temple incl. a sacred lake.
We only spent a few hours there as it was quite hot and we weren't in the
best of health at the time :( We could have definitely spent most of a
day exploring the entire compound, especially with our knowledgable guide
taking us around!
The next day after our donkey ride through the Valley of the Kings we went
back to Karnak for the Sound and Light show, which was a little cheesy but
worth seeing.
