In the ancient city of Thebes, the Karnak Temple stretches over more than 80 hectares. It is often called a temple, without realizing that this term means anything in the singular. The Karnak Temple is actually a complex of monumental religious buildings located near the Nile River in the territory of the modern city of Luxor, built on the site of ancient Thebes.
Myths and facts
Legend has it that the Temple of Amun at Karnak was the home of a sacred statue of the chief deity. In August, during the flood of the Nile, a magnificent festive ceremony began: the statue of Amun was taken out of the temple and carried along the alley of sphinxes to renew the God-king, along with the renewal of the earth after a long drought. There Pharaoh prayed to the gods, asking for blessings on New Year. Then he went out to the people, everyone stood facing the Nile and sang praises to the river. Jubilant Egyptians in boats waved palm branches and burning torches. The statue of Amun was then carried in a golden barge across the sacred lake back to the Karnak inner chambers, hidden from uninitiated eyes.
Unlike many, Karnak was not built by one pharaoh or even during the reign of one dynasty. Construction began in the 16th century BC. and lasted more than 1300 years. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the creation of the complex, adding pylons, chapels and obelisks dedicated to the gods Thebes
The Karnak Temple is unique not only among Egyptian temples. This is the largest ancient religious building in the world, which is also considered the largest open-air museum. Never before have sacred temples reached such dimensions, and the decoration has never been so splendid. Only the hypostyle hall of Karnak, measuring 103 by 52 meters, contained 144 columns up to 20 meters high, which could not be grasped by five people! The huge pylon at the entrance surpassed all previous ones in its scope: 156 meters in length and 40 meters in height!
What to see
Behind the avenue of sphinxes and the first pylon is the temple of the Theban triad: Amun - the sun god, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu - the moon god. At the entrance to the hypostyle hall stands the colossus of Ramses II, at whose feet one of his daughters is depicted. The bas-reliefs in the hall tell the story of the life and exploits of the pharaoh.
In the depths of the Karnak complex rises a huge 39-meter obelisk made of red granite. The second obelisk did not stand the test of time and its fragments are scattered around.
To the left of the southern courtyard there is a sacred lake, in the waters of which the priests washed themselves before performing rituals. On the shore stands a huge granite scarab beetle, installed by Amenhotep III. The Egyptians believe that if you walk around this statue seven times and touch it with your hand, your wish will certainly come true.
The Temple of Karnak hosts a light and sound show every evening, depicting the history of Thebes as the religious center of Egypt. The show is performed in several languages. Check the schedule for when the performance will be in Russian. Most of the buildings are outdoors, including the museum, so be prepared for the sun, wear sunscreen and don't forget to bring water.
On the opposite bank of the Nile is the second largest temple complex in Egypt. Also located nearby. And if you have any strength left, I recommend visiting - the gate to the afterlife, guarding the most mysterious secrets of the pharaohs.
Karnak Temple is open from 6.00 to 18.00 in summer and from 6.30 to 17.30 in winter.
Cost: 80 LE (about 8.3 €), students - 40 LE.
How to get there: located 2 km from Luxor, from where you can get there by taxi. Luxor can be reached by bus from Hurghada, Makadi Bay, Safaga, El Gouna, El Quseir (4-5 hours). From Cairo there are many river cruises on the Nile with a stop in Karnak.
The Karnak complex in Luxor is the largest and oldest temple in the world. Its territory covers over 200 hectares, the area is 105 km by 0.8 km. The sacred hall of Amun alone reaches 61 acres, that is, ten times the average size of a European cathedral. Karnak is the oldest temple city, dating back about 4,000 years.
Halls of Karnak Temple
The complex includes a group of buildings such as the Temple of the Great Amun Ra, the Temple of Khonso, the Ipt Temple, the Temple of Ptah, the Temple of Monto and the Temple of the god Osiris. A 20-meter wall surrounds all these buildings. The Karnak Temple was built in honor of the ancient Egyptian cult of Amon Ra. It is also called the "House of Amun".
Introduction of the cult of Amun into culture Ancient Egypt was designated during the reign of the 12th dynasty of pharaohs, when Thebes became the capital of Egypt. Amon was originally depicted as a goose, then as a ram. And at the peak of his power, like a man with a head of feathers.
Name " El Karnak " With Arabic means "fortified village". This name is probably due to the fact that during the conquest of Egypt, at the entrance to the temple, many ancient buildings, which have not been affected by time. At the entrance to Karnak, temple visitors are greeted by “ Alley of Sphinxes ", which was built to protect the Temple. The alley with 20 ram-headed animals was built during the reign of King Nectanebo during the 30th dynasty.
The halls (pylons) of the Karnak Temple are built in such a way that the most ancient rooms are located in the depths of the building. Each section of the temple was completed by a later pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. As you approach the main gate of the temple halls of Karnak, temple rooms of increasingly later construction are discovered.
First Hall of Karnak
The first hall of the Karnak Temple is 100 m long and 80 m wide, its construction was completed during the 22nd dynasty of the pharaohs. In it, temple visitors can see columns decorated with papyrus buds - a symbol of the power of the pharaoh.
On the left side of this hall there are 3 chapels that were built by King Seti II in honor of the conquest of Thebes. On the right side there is a temple. It consists of small rooms and a hypostyle hall leading to the sanctuary. Horemheb began its construction during the reign of the 18th dynasty, and was completed by Ramses I. Now they are very badly damaged.
Next comes the Great Hypostyle Hall, which contains 134 columns, the top of which is decorated with the image of papyrus. Each fortification is 22 m high and 3.5 m in diameter. The ceiling in the center of the hall is wider than in other parts of the room. Along this path, illuminated by light, the processions of the Triad passed during the festival of Opet. The walls of the hypostyle hall are decorated with scenes from the life of King Seti I: in the front part there is an altar for various deities where sacrifices were carried out. And the southern part is decorated with images that make offerings and worship to the Triad of Thebes.
Hypostyle Hall of the Temple
The hypostyle hall leads to the third room, which was built by Amenhotep III. Next, the entrance to the hall of Thutmose I opens, where there are two obelisks. Presumably, during his reign, the arch of the hall served as the main entrance to the temple. Unfortunately, only one obelisk, 19 m high and about 310 tons in weight, remained intact. The obelisks and colonnade of the hall of Thutmose I were built later, after the only woman, the pharaoh of Egypt, Hatsepshut, ascended the throne. One of the colonades has been preserved in its original form, 29.5 m in height, 322 tons in weight. It was made of red granite.
After his death, King Thutmose III built a high, long wall around these two obelisks to hide them. The fifth pylon of the Karnak Temple was built by Thutmose III. It contains a sanctuary restored by Philip Arrhidaeus, half-brother of Alexander the Great. The sanctuary is built of granite and is dedicated to the boat of Amon Ra. Behind the sanctuary is a wide courtyard. Most likely, an old temple building was located on this site, dating back to the Middle Kingdom.
Turning left from the sixth hall of the Karnak Temple, we enter the courtyard of the seventh pylon. In 1902, French Egyptologist Legrain Georges discovered this precious collection of statues hidden underground in this hall. Crossing the seventh hall of the Temple you can see two large statues of Ramses II and Thutmose III. The 8th pylon was built by Queen Hatshepsut and decorated by Thutmose III and later restored by Seti I. The scenes on the hall's façade depict Hatshepsut in various religious scenes with various deities.
On the left side of the room, between pylons 9 and 10, you can see the remains of Kheb-Sed, which was built by Amenhotep II and decorated under Seti I. Pylon 9 of Karnak in Luxor was built by Horemheb, and is now badly damaged. It belonged to the Aten Temple, which was built by Amenhotep VI (Akhenaton) during the reign of the 18th Dynasty and destroyed by later kings who tried to destroy all traces of the history of this king of Egypt. The temple complex is completed by the 10th pylon, erected by King Horemheb, which also includes the Ptolemy II Gate in front of the room dedicated to the cult of Mut.
Sacred Lake of Karnak Temple
Before leaving the Temple of Amun Ra at Karnak, be sure to visit the Sacred Lake, which dates back to the time of Thutmose III. All ancient Egyptian temples had sacred lakes, and Karnak was the largest of them. The water source was used during festivals when the deities would sail across it on their golden barge.
The water supply to the lake, a symbol of the primeval ocean of Nun, was carried out directly from the Nile. Currently it is 80 m long and 40 m wide. Near the Sacred Lake there is a scarab, which is considered the largest in Egypt, dating back to the reign of Amenhotep III. The ancient Egyptians called the scarab "Hebri" and it was a symbol of the Sun. At Karnak Temple, a light and sound show begins in the evening.
Show schedule for Karnak Temple in Luxor
Time 8:00 pm 9:15 pm 10:30 11:45
Saturday: French, English, Italian
Sunday: German, English, Italian, French
Monday: English, French, Spanish
Tuesday: Japanese, English
Medium: German, English, French
Thursday: English, French, Arabic
Friday: English, French
Ticket price 75 Egyptian pounds
If you require a camera installation, you must purchase an additional ticket for EGP 35.
A small village lying on the eastern bank of the Nile, 2.5 km from Luxor. Since 1979, this temple, together with the Luxor Temple and the Theban Necropolises, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
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The first evidence of the existence of the cult of the god Amon-Ra in ancient Egyptian Thebes dates back to the era of the Middle Kingdom. This is an eight-pointed column created under the XI Dynasty Pharaoh Inyotefe II and now located in the Luxor Museum. Oldest surviving building temple complex was built during the XII Dynasty, under Pharaoh Senusret I - this is the so-called White Chapel (temple-kiosk made of white limestone), extracted from blocks in the masonry of the III pylon.
Construction work reached a particular scale during the era of the New Kingdom. The first large-scale work on the construction of local temples was carried out by the pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, on whose orders they built three pylons (VI, V and IV), a columned courtyard, a small hall and two obelisks made of red Aswan granite, one of which has remained in place to this day. The old monuments were surrounded by a wall, and sandstone buildings (pylons IV and V) were added to them at the gates. Under his successor, another pylon appeared (VIII).
The temple was significantly updated by the daughter of Thutmose, the female pharaoh Hatshepsut. She erected the VIII pylon, expanded the temple of the goddess Mut and added the Red Chapel to the center of her father's complex - a sanctuary of the divine barque Amon-Ra made of red and black granite with wall images of her coronation. Subsequently, the sanctuary of Hatshepsut was destroyed, used by Amenhotep III as building material and rebuilt in the Hellenistic era (under Alexander the Great and Philip III Arrhidaeus), but now recreated in the Open Air Temple Museum. She erected four giant obelisks, two of which were placed between the pylons of Thutmose I, including a solid block of red granite 30 meters high that has survived to this day. They were the tallest of all those built early in Egypt until they were laid with stone masonry by Thutmose III. Apparently, during her time, the largest of all obelisks was being prepared for Karnak, which was never completed. Its height was supposed to be 41.8 meters, and its weight was about 1200 tons, which is one third greater than the largest obelisks ever erected in Egypt.
To the east of the part dedicated to Amun-Ra, Pharaoh Akhenaten erected a temple to the god Aten ( Gem-pa-Aten), whom he made the main and only god of Ancient Egypt. Its dimensions were 120x200 meters, which was larger than the area of the Temple of Amun-Ra. At the direction of Akhenaten, all other temples, except those belonging to Aten, were closed. After his death, during the reign of Horemheb, the temples of the old gods were restored and reopened, and the sanctuary of Aten was completely demolished. The stone blocks from which it was built were used to build other temples and structures. Some of these blocks, connected to form a structure, can be seen in the Luxor Museum.
The part dedicated to Amon contains:
- great temple of Amon-Ra
- temple of the god Khonsu (size 80x30 meters. Construction began under Ramesses III, continued under Ramesses IV, Ramesses XI, completed under Herihor.
- "Sacred Barque" of Ramesses II
- Temple of Ipet (built during the reign of Ptolemy VIII)
- small temple of the god Ptah
Here are also the so-called. White Chapel(the oldest surviving building of the complex, erected under Senusret I); Red Chapel(a building built under Queen Hatshepsut, with wall images of her coronation, scenes of sacrifices and Theban religious festivals); Alabaster Chapel(built under the pharaoh); Temple of Ramesses III. To the south of the central temple building lies a sacred lake measuring 120x77 meters. The lake level was maintained solely by groundwater. Next to it there was a small room where geese lived - the sacred birds of Amun. The water from the lake was used by the priests to sacredly bathe the statues of the gods.
The part dedicated to the goddess Mut lies approximately 350 meters south of the central temple of Amon-Ra, with which it is connected by a small alley of ram-headed 66 sphinxes, and has dimensions of 250x350 m. Here is the Mut temple, surrounded on three sides by the Sacred Lake, as well as the temple and "maternity hospital" of Ramesses III. The entrance portal to the temple of the goddess Mut was created under Pharaoh Seti I. There was also a nearby Kamutef Temple. In 1840, these temples were largely destroyed in order to use them as building materials for the construction of a factory.
In ancient times, the Karnak Temple was associated with the Luxor Alley, on both sides of which sphinxes were installed. At Karnak this road ends at the tenth temple pylon. This 2-kilometer long Avenue of the Sphinxes is currently being restored and has largely been restored.
XI Dynasty, the main god of the city of Thebes.
In ancient Egyptian religious system One of the most important principles was the concept of world order, denoted by the term maat. Because maat is not something eternal and unchangeable, and can, as a result of unworthy human acts, be taken out of the blessed balance; the most important task was to maintain it in a stable state in order to avoid chaos and destruction of the world familiar to man. The highest duty and responsibility of the pharaoh was to maintain maat in a state of balance. Therefore, each ancient Egyptian temple represents a certain model of this world, in which sacred actions take place, carried out by the pharaoh or his representative high priest to save maat unchanged - making sacrifices to the gods, prayers and sacred chants.
Temple of Amon Karnak
“I was looking for something that was useful... These were works the likes of which had not been done since the time of our ancestors. What I was destined to create was great!”
The outstanding ancient Egyptian architect Ineni, to whom these lines belong, cannot but be reproached with pride: what he was destined to create really turned out to be great, the temple has survived a millennium, tourists still come here. At the very end of the 16th century. BC, during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose I, Ineni founded the now famous temple of Amun in Karnak, on the banks of the Nile, which became the decoration of the new royal capital - the “hundred-gate” Thebes. That's what the Greeks called this city. In ancient Egyptian texts it is called “Lucky”, in the Bible - “But”.The heyday of Thebes is the time of the XVIII dynasty of the Egyptian pharaohs, a time of new bright prosperity Egyptian culture. The pharaohs of the 18th dynasty, who expelled the Hyksos invaders from the country, made Thebes, their hometown, the capital of the country. Grandiose temples, magnificent palaces and houses quickly changed the appearance of Thebes. transforming them into the richest and most magnificent of Egyptian cities, the glory of which was preserved for many centuries.
The temples of the XVIII dynasty were an elongated rectangle in plan. Its façade faced the Nile, with which the temple was connected by a road framed by sphinxes. The entrance looked like a pylon, with high masts with flags attached to the outer wall. In front of the pylon there were usually obelisks and colossal statues of the king, and behind it there was an open courtyard with porticoes and the temple building itself, which contained columned halls, chapels, libraries, storerooms, etc. The columned halls usually had a higher middle passage, through the upper part of which Light penetrated the hall.
The famous temple of Amun in Karnak also belongs to this type of temple. It was the main temple of the solar deity Amon-Ra and the supreme sanctuary of the country. Each king sought to expand and decorate Karnak, which became a silent witness to the history of Egypt. Chronicles, battle scenes, and the names of kings were carved on its walls and columns. Magnificent reliefs depicting pharaohs defeating their enemies before the god Amon have been preserved here. The hymns carved on the walls of the temple glorify the power of the king, who achieves victories thanks to his help " heavenly father" - Amon: “I have come and let you destroy the borders of all lands, and the entire universe is squeezed into your fist!"
The temple at Karnak was a real “city of the gods.” Its construction lasted two millennia: the first buildings appeared at the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, the last - under the Ptolemies, the largest - under Thutmose III and Ramesses II. Even the Roman emperors contributed to its decoration. This huge complex included temples to Amun, his wife Mut and their son Khonsu, as well as temples to the god Mont, the goddess Maat, the god Ptah and others.
The best architects and sculptors worked to create the sanctuary. One of its first builders was the famous Ineni, the court architect of Pharaoh Thutmose I. The second major stage in the history of the construction of Karnak was the work carried out here under Pharaoh Amenhotep III, when the architect Amenhotep, son of Hapu, built a new huge pylon in front of the temple, from which to the Nile led by the alley of sphinxes. The entire sanctuary was surrounded by a massive wall. The result was a new temple of unprecedented proportions. Under the Libyan pharaoh Shoshenq and the Ethiopian pharaoh Taharqa, the last major additions were made: another huge courtyard with porticoes and a giant pylon resembling a fortress wall was built. Its height is 43.5 m, width - 113 m and thickness - 15 m. The entrance was decorated with a monumental colonnade with capitals in the shape of open papyrus flowers.
Built by the architect Ineni, the temple was built in the traditions of the 18th dynasty. Its facade faces the Nile, with which the temple was connected by a road framed by sphinxes. The entrance looked like a pylon, with high masts with flags attached to the outer wall. An alley of 24 sphinxes with ram heads leads to it; Once upon a time, two obelisks stood in front of the pylon, each 23 m high.
Behind the pylon there was a shallow but wide columned hall, then the next pylon; beyond it extends a porticoed courtyard with temples of Seti II and Ramesses III, colonnades, sphinxes and a colossal statue of Ramesses II in the guise of Osiris; and, finally, the temple building itself, which contained columned halls, chapels, libraries, storerooms, etc. The entire temple was designed in the characteristic early XVIII dynasty strict style. However, this stylistic unity was later disrupted by numerous additions and alterations. Over time, numerous halls, chapels, and obelisks filled the courtyard; the columned hall of Ineni was heavy with the addition of columns and statues; With east side They added a special large hall with four rows of columns.
The pharaohs of the next, XIX, dynasty sought to add splendor and splendor to their capital, court and temples of the gods, which left a unique imprint on the architecture of this period. The main object of their attention was the temple of Amun at Karnak, the expansion of which had a double political significance: it was supposed to show the triumph of Amon and glorify the power of the new dynasty. The new buildings at Karnak are characterized by the desire for grand scale that became a defining feature of the temple architecture of the 19th dynasty. Never before have pylons, columns and monolithic colossal statues of kings reached such dimensions; never before has the decoration of temples been distinguished by such heavy pomp. Thus, the new pylon erected during these years surpassed all the previous ones: its length was 156 m, and the masts standing in front of it reached 40 m in height.
Behind this pylon opens a view that has no equal in the world - a view of the world's greatest columned hall, built by the 19th dynasty architects Iupa and Khatiai. It is 103 m wide and 52 m deep. On an area of approximately 5000 sq. m - it could accommodate 900 cars - there was a whole forest of gigantic sandstone columns, a total of 134 columns standing in 16 rows. The height of the twelve central columns reaches 23 m, each more than ½ in circumference, with capitals in the form of open papyrus flowers. The remaining 122 columns were 13 meters high and about 9 meters in circumference.
The floors of the hall, supported by the tops of the columns, weigh from 10 to 20 tons. They were placed there by dragging the blocks along an earthen embankment, after which the earth was removed. The columns and ceilings of the hall, partially preserved to this day, are striking in their scale. In the twilight that reigned between these stone giants, the subject of the pharaoh probably felt with particular strength the greatness and incomprehensibility of that divine principle, in whose glory the Karnak Temple was erected and by whose providence the Egyptian state was held in the minds of the Egyptians.
The columns are covered from top to bottom with hieroglyphic inscriptions, reliefs depicting religious ceremonies, and royal cartouches. The stone still retains faint traces of the once bright colors. Capitals, crossbars and roof slabs are decorated in the same way. When the construction of the hall was just completed, its multi-colored beauty was dazzling. The floor may have been covered with silver leaf. On holidays, many people crowded here, for the hall was erected to show the whole world the power of the pharaoh and his omnipotent father Amun-Ra, the solar god. For those who could not read hieroglyphs, the same story was told by the images on the walls. However, the Egyptian peasant easily managed without the art of reading. Oral interpretations of complex religion, magic, various beliefs, welded together by frenzied pagan superstition, were enough for him.
The colossal columns of the middle aisle, standing like sentry giants at the mysterious door of the sanctuary, with their rows were supposed to direct the viewer's eye precisely in its direction; even now, against our will, they lead our gaze to it. To point out the mysterious without revealing it - such was the goal of the Egyptian religious art. But, in my opinion modern man, this is not a hall at all, it is a colossal mass of columns, an oppressive pile of architectural barriers, between which there is only a narrow space for free passage.
Under the pharaohs of the 19th dynasty, the appearance of other sanctuaries of Karnak also changed, of which the new building of the temple of the goddess Mut, located south of the temple of Amun and surrounded on three sides by a horseshoe-shaped lake, was especially noteworthy. The identical hall and lakes, like wings, covered the sides of the temple. The severity of the plan was especially emphasized by the fact that the central colonnade of the first hall continued along the entire courtyard. As if defining the path of the solemn processions, it merged with the avenue of sphinxes starting from the temple gates and served as an excellent embodiment of the idea of an endless line of the temple road, so characteristic of Egyptian architecture. In the porticoes that framed the temple, there were monumental statues of the goddess Mut in the form of a woman with the head of a lioness (one of them is now in the Hermitage). In total, according to the Harris papyrus, there were once 86,000 statues in sacred Karnak.
Four gates framed by pylons lead from the southern side wall of the Temple of Amun-Ra to the alley of sphinxes leading to the Temple of Mut. The complex of secondary sanctuaries inside the main temple is located in exact accordance with the general rectangular plan and is oriented parallel to the axis of the sanctuary of Amun-Ra. Approaching the temple from the west, from the Nile, you see in front of you on both sides of the entrance giant pylons 43.3 m high. In total, there are 10 pylons on the territory of the complex, built in different eras, starting from the 15th century. BC. and ending with the 1st century. BC. In front of each and behind each are sanctuaries with decorated gates and columned halls, alleys of sphinxes and even rows of statues, destroyed and unresolved walls with hieroglyphic inscriptions, individual signs of which are often more than a meter long - and there are more than 250,000 such signs here!
Everything here is colossal. The obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut, carved from red granite, is the largest in Egypt. The unusually harmonious forms of this granite monument (almost 30 m high, weighing about 350 tons) stand out clearly against the blue sky. All four of its faces are covered with hieroglyphs: “Oh, Pharaoh, you see your father Amon-Ra, the god of gods! Lord of the thrones of both Egypt, you behold your father every time he rises from Ipet Souta. Its rays fold together ahead, like the rays of the edge of the sky at dawn, illuminating the double door of the edge of the sky of the Lord of the Whole World... People are happy that his beauty has risen, and they rejoice..."
Ipet Sout was the name of the earliest temple at Karnak, built around 2000 BC. The golden barge of the Sun was once kept here. Amazingly, the temple of Amun itself, " great temple Sun", was not oriented towards the Sun. Moreover, from the founding of the temple to the present day, the rays of the Sun have never fallen parallel to its central axis. How so? Was the axis of the temple chosen by chance? Was it really possible that when it was laid, the first lines were drawn haphazardly?
It turns out not. The central axis of the temple at Karnak is oriented towards the sunrise point on the shortest day of the year. This day was special for the Egyptians. Plutarch says in Isis and Osiris: “On the day winter solstice they (the Egyptians) lead the cow seven times around the temple of the Sun... looking for Osiris, for the goddess thirsts for moisture in winter; and seven times they lead a cow because the Sun completes the transition from the winter solstice to the summer solstice on the seventh month... Horus, son of Isis. makes a sacrifice to the Sun... Every day they offer a triple sacrifice of incense to the Sun - a sacrifice of fragrant resin at dawn, myrrh at noon and the so-called kythix at sunset... They believe that with this they propitiate the Sun and serve him ... "
The Nile near Thebes forms a huge bend and flows from south-southwest to north-northeast - approximately at right angles to the direction of the sunrise point on the winter solstice. The Temple of Amun is oriented precisely in this direction - at least as far as the accuracy of the measurement allows us to determine. Was the site for the temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak, in ancient Thebes, chosen because of the bend that made the temple perpendicular to the Nile oriented along the line of sunrise? Or was this direction discovered after construction of the temple complex began?
Be that as it may, the winter solstice played a special role in the life of the Temple of Amun at Karnak. On this day, the Sun defeated the forces of darkness in the battle unfolding in the underworld, and in the moment of victory at dawn new god: “The doors of the underworld are wide open, O Sokar. The sun is in the sky! O born again, you shine above the edge of the heavens, and you restore Egypt to its beauty whenever the heavens are pierced by rays, whenever you are born as a disk in the sky.”
Amon-Ra was the most important god Egypt, remaining a national deity for many centuries. The ideas behind this cult were formed long before the era of the XVIII dynasty and persisted until the complete decline of Egyptian civilization under Cleopatra.
But as the prophecies said, the end of this temple has come. “The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, says: Behold, I will visit Ammon, which is in No, and Pharaoh and Egypt, and his gods and his kings, Pharaoh and those who trust in him; And I will deliver them into the hands of those who seek their lives, and into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hands of his servants; but after that it will be inhabited as in the former days, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 46:25,26)
The temple was destroyed by an earthquake.This is a typical Egyptian temple - rectangular in shape, whose facade faces the Nile, and the road leading to the facade is decorated with numerous sphinxes. The entrance to the Karnak Temple is a pylon, in front of which there are monumental obelisks and statues of the pharaoh. Then, you see an amazing temple building, where there are places for offering prayers, several libraries, and columned halls. While inside the temple at Karnak, you can see the history of Ancient Egypt carved in the form of drawings and hieroglyphic inscriptions on the columns and walls. These images tell the glorious history of a great kingdom.
This majestic temple was built and decorated by the famous architect of Ancient Egypt, Inenni, but further improvement, expansion and development of the Karnak Temple took two thousand years. At one time, the most outstanding architects and craftsmen of Egypt were able to work on it, each new pharaoh of Egypt, and even Roman emperors, contributed to its improvement. Over the years of its existence, the temple at Karnak has become a huge complex, including: the Temple of the god Amun-Ra, the Temple of Ptah, the Temple of Amenhotep II, the Temple of Maat and so on. Each subsequent pharaoh who came to power tried to remake the temple to suit his tastes, giving it more chic. When the new Nineteenth Dynasty ascended the throne, it became necessary to enlarge the Karnak temple complex. It was then that it acquired grandiose proportions, only the new pylon was one hundred and fifty-six meters long.
The Karnak Temple consists of thirty-three temples, halls, and its total area occupies more than two square kilometers. The Temple of Amun-Ra in Karnak is the most interesting part of the architectural complex. This huge building began to be built under Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and then the construction was continued by the following successors to the throne of Egypt: Seti I and Ramses II. Particularly surprising to visitors is the hypostyle hall, which is fifty-two meters long, one hundred and three meters wide, there are one hundred and forty-four columns, twenty-three meters high, and ten meters in circumference, arranged in sixteen rows, over the entire surface, painted with bright colors. bas-reliefs. The colonnaded main hall is equal in size to St. Peter's Cathedral in the Vatican or St. Paul's Cathedral in London.
Another great creation of the new dynasty of pharaohs and part of the Karnak temple complex was the Temple of the goddess Mut, located south of the Temple of Amun-Ra. This structure is surrounded on three sides by the waters of Lake Ishru. In Ancient Egypt, in the waters of this lake, priests washed the statues of gods, and in a small room nearby, the sacred birds of the god Amun - geese - lived. The temple is a rather austere structure, with a majestic main colonnade and statues of the Egyptian goddess Mut - a woman with the head of a lion. But today, the Temple of the sky goddess Mut has been severely destroyed and has been partially preserved in the form of ruins and ruins.
On the shore of the sacred Lake Ishru there is another important Egyptian symbol - a large scarab beetle located on a pedestal. The guides say that there is a belief that if you walk around this pedestal with the beetle several times and make a wish, you will not only have it granted, but also will find good luck for the rest of your life. But the ancient Egyptians said that the column is an ancient clock that measures the time of this world. Every year the column plunges several millimeters deep into the earth; according to legend, when the scarab beetle disappears from sight, the end of the world will come to planet Earth.
The temple of the god Khonsu in Karnak is a place where Egyptians come to pray for miracles of healing. It, unlike the temple of his mother Mut, is very well preserved, but since it is located in the farthest part, it is rarely visited by ordinary tourists, but in vain, because there are absolutely stunning interiors and amazing paintings. There are legends about the statue of Khons, the patron saint of medicine: they say that if you sincerely turn to ancient deity with prayers for health, it will definitely help. And many local residents believe this in our twenty-first century.
The holiest place of the Karnak Temple is a rather small black stone, which used to be an altar, on which lay the “Ipet Sout Stone” - “Mother of the Universe”, this is some kind of “ philosopher's stone", brought to Ancient Egypt from Atlantis, according to an ancient legend. And in the sacred Egyptian papyri, about the “Stone of Ipet Sout” it is said that this “treasure of the world” was given to the pharaohs from the gods themselves. But then the stone was taken from the territory of the temple in Karnak to the Himalayas, more precisely to Shambhala, which is hidden from the view of mere mortals in the Tibetan mountains.
An interesting attraction of the Karnak Temple is the obelisk of the Queen of Egypt - Hatshepsut, thirty meters high, recognized as the largest in the country. The story of her coronation is carved on the surface of the obelisk. In ancient times, the tops of ancient memorial obelisks were covered with gold and silver.
The temples of Karnak and Luxor are united by the long “Avenue of Sphinxes”; they are carved from solid blocks of stone and crowned with ram’s heads. This alley is called “Path of the Gods”, because along it, in the days religious holidays In ancient Egypt, a sacred golden barge carrying a statue of the god Amun-Ra moved from one sanctuary to another.
Today the Karnak Temple of Egypt is considered the largest religious complex in the world, and is the main state sanctuary of Ancient Egypt. Tourists visit this historical monument as often as the famous Pyramids of Giza, because the temple ensemble of Karnak can tell a lot about the ancient and incredibly interesting Egyptian history and culture.
You can come to the Karnak Temple on a group tour, but then you will be tied to your tour group and limited in free time, so it is better to do it on your own. You need to take a bus from Hurghada, Makadi Bay, Safaga, El Gouna, El Quseir and travel for about five hours, and another option is to book a river cruise on the Nile River, with a stop at the Karnak Temple. If you decide to come here on your own, then try to be there at seven o’clock in the morning, because from nine o’clock the power here is taken over by numerous group tourists, and you immediately forget about the peace, quiet and the opportunity to photograph something without unnecessary people in the frame and without a queue for a good angle.
